Page 150 - GSTL_3rd September 2020_Vol 40_Part 1

84 GST LAW TIMES [ Vol. 40
- an underlying base or support
(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foundation)
(2.2) Further, in the S.B. Sarkar’s Words and Phrases of Excise, Customs
& Service Tax, it has been stated as under :
“The lowest load-bearing part of a building, typically below ground
level”. It further states that that Foundation is the construction be-
low the ground that distributes the load of a building, wall etc.
(2.3) Foundation thus is a civil structure, which forms the base of a struc-
ture. This structure can be that a building or a support structure.
Therefore, it is not under any doubt that Foundation is a sub-specie
of the genus Civil Structure.
(3) This apparent contraction is however negated by the fact that the
exclusion of the building or civil structure is for plant and machin-
ery per se. while the inclusion is for foundation and structure is only
to the extent that such foundation and structure is used to fasten the
apparent, equipment or machinery to earth. Thus, if the plant
and/or machinery is fixed/fastened to the earth by a foundation or
civil structure then such foundation or civil structure shall be in-
cluded in plant and machinery.
(4) It is important to see why the exclusion to the term “building and
civil structure” has been provided for in law. The term plant has a
wide meaning and it changes with the context and purpose of the
law under which the matter is being sought to be interpreted. The
term plant is defined as under in Cambridge Dictionary :
- machines used in industry; a factory in which a particular
product is made or power is produced : a large, heavy ma-
chine or vehicle used in industry, for building roads, etc.
(https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/plant)
(5) Further in Merriam Webster, plant is defined as under :
(a) the land, buildings, machinery, apparatus, and fixtures em-
ployed in carrying on a trade or an industrial business
(b) a factory or workshop for the manufacture of a particular
product also : power plant
(c) the total facilities available for production or service
(d) the buildings and other physical equipment of an institution
(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plant)
(6) Again, in M.C. Graw Hill dictionary as below :
■ “Plant - The land, buildings and equipment used in an indus-
try.”
(7) Judicial pronouncements have also enlarged the definition of the
term plant. Some of the pronouncements are as under :
(7.1) In the matter of Shanmugaraja Spinning Mills Ltd. v. Commr. of C. Ex.,
Coimbatore reported in 1998 (98) E.L.T. 702 (Tribunal) it has been
stated as under by the Honorable CESTAT :
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