BENGAL IRON CORPORATION Vs. COMMERCIAL TAX OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) CIVIL Appeal No. 4474 of 1992.

(2.) THE Division Bench of the High Court dismissed the writ petition following its earlier decision in Deccan Engineers v. State of Andhra Pradesh (reported in 1991, Vol. 12 A.P. Sales Tax Generals, 138: 84 STC 92). In Deccan Engineers, it was held by the A. P. High Court that the expression 'cast iron' in item (2)(i) of the Third Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act does not include cast-iron pipes, man-hole covers and bends etc. In this appeal, the correctness of the said view is questioned.

(3.) THE precise question that was considered in Deccan Engineering (1992 (84) STC 92) (AP) (followed in the judgment under appeal) was whether the 'cast iron castings' manufactured by the petitioner in that case are 'cast iron' within the meaning of item (2)(i) of the Third Schedule to the A.P. Act/ Item (iv)(i) of section 14 of the C.S.T. Act. At this stage, it is necessary to ascertain precisely what does 'cast iron' mean and how are the products of the appellant manufactured. 'Cast iron' is defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary as "a hard alloy of iron, carbon and silicon cast in a mould". According to New Lexicon Webster's dictionary of English language, the word 'cast iron' means "an iron-carbon alloy produced in a blast furnace. It contains up to 4 Per Cent carbon, and is more brittle, but more easily fused, than steel." According to Van Nostrand's Scientific encyclopedia, 'cast iron' is "primarily the product of remelting and casting pig iron". (Interestingly, the expression 'cast iron' - with a hyphen between 'cast' and 'iron' - has been defined separately as meaning "made of cast iron". So far as Item (iv) of section 14 is concerned, the official publication spells the expression 'cast iron' without a hyphen. Though an authorised publication of the A. P. Act is not placed before us, we presume that the printing of the said expression in the private publication placed before us represents the correct rendering - it is without a hyphen.) That 'cast iron' is different from 'cast iron castings' is brought out in the following extract from the Judgment in 'Deccan Engineering', (1992 (84)STC 92) which is equally true in the case of the appellant as well: