Page 69 - GSTL_20th August 2020_Vol 39_Part 3

2020 ] IN RE : HALLIBURTON OFFSHORE SERVICES INC. (LIH) 283
gence/mistake of the Applicant. Accordingly, the LIH equipment
clause contemplates a contingency which may occur outside the
normal stream of supply under the Contract, in which case a com-
pensatory payment is to be made by the Customer to the Applicant.
(vi) As regards the LIH equipment, there is also no contemplation of a
transference in property therein. As stated hereinabove, the contract
only contemplates that certain capital goods in the form of equip-
ment will be provided/deployed for the operations, which may or
may not be irretrievably lost during operations, and, in such a case,
payment is required to be made by ONGC to the Applicant. Moreo-
ver, the LIH equipment are also distinct from consumables under
the Contract. It is also pertinent to note that, had the Contract been
for a supply of the LIH equipment, such a supply would have been
completed when the goods in question were supplied/applied at
ONGCs site. On the contrary, under the Contract, it is only after an
irretrievable loss of the goods that the LIH charges are paid by
ONGC to the Applicant. The said payment is therefore in the nature
of compensation which is payable in the event that the contingent
event takes place, i.e. irretrievable loss of goods. Accordingly, the
transaction does not qualify as a supply of ‘goods’ under GST.
6.19 In terms of the foregoing, while the LIH equipment form part of
the framework of the contractual arrangement between the parties, an LIH event
is entirely contingent, and the reimbursement received towards LIH equipment
are in the nature of compensation paid by ONGC to the Applicant in the event
that such contingency transpires.
6.20 In view of the aforesaid, it becomes relevant to analyse whether
LIH can be said to be part and parcel of a ‘composite supply’ or a ‘mixed supply’.
In this regard, as both the aforesaid definitions provide that the various supplies
must be made ‘in conjunction with each other’, it is pertinent to determine the
meaning of the term ‘conjunction’.
As the term ‘conjunction’ is undefined under the statute, we refer to the
dictionary meanings, which are set out below.
Oxford English Dictionary (Online Version)
The action or an instance of two or more events or things occurring
at the same point in time or space
Merriam Webster Dictionary (Online Version)
The state of being conjoined (Conjoined - being, coming, or brought
together so as to meet, touch, overlap, or unite)
Occurrence together in time or space
Chambers Dictionary (Online Version)
A joining together; combination
The coinciding of two or more events
Cambridge Dictionary (Online Version)
The situation in which events or conditions combine or happen to-
gether
6.21 As per the aforesaid definitions, supplies in conjunction with each
other would imply supplies that are made together or in combination. Accord-

GST LAW TIMES  20th August 2020  69