Page 176 - GSTL_3rd September 2020_Vol 40_Part 1

110 GST LAW TIMES [ Vol. 40
ing Mills (Aluminium) Ltd.; (iv) moveable office partitions, Jarrold
v. John Good & Sons Ltd.; (v) concrete dry dock, Inland Revenue
Commissioner v. Barclay, Curle & Co. Ltd.; (vi) electrical fans and
other office appliances, Sundaram Motors Pvt. v. Commissioner of
Income tax; (vii) poles, cables conductors and switch boards for
distribution of electricity, Commissioner of Income tax v. Indian
Turpentine and Rosin Co. Ltd.; (viii) light fittings, ceiling and ped-
estal fans and water pipe fittings in a hotel, Commissioner of In-
come tax v. Jagadeeschandran & Co.; (ix) sanitary and pipeline fit-
tings in a hotel, Commissioner of Income tax v. Taj Mahal Hotel.”
(af) That, the common definition of the term “equipment” is “a set of
equipment or tools or a machine that is used for a particular pur-
pose”. The Appellant would also like to cite meaning of the above
term from different dictionaries as under :
“Apparatus - It is a collection or set of materials, instruments, ap-
pliances or machinery designed for a particular use (May. Web.Dic),
A compound instrument designed to carry out a specific function.
(McGraw Hill Dic. of Sc. & Tech. Terms).”
(ag) That, the Appellant wishes to quote further on the meaning of ap-
paratus from the Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of
the English Language which reads as under :-
“a group or aggregate of instruments, machinery, tools, materials
etc., having a particular function or intended for a specific use. 2.
any complex instrument or machine for a particular purpose. 3. any
system or systematic organization of activities, functions, processes,
etc., directed toward a specific goal; the apparatus of government;
espionage apparatus. 4. Physiol, a group of structurally different
organs working together in the performance of a particular func-
tion: the digestive apparatus.”
(ah) The Appellant also wishes to rely on the definition cited in various
case laws. As per the P. Ramanatha Aiyar’s Legal Lexicon :
“The word apparatus would certainly mean the compound instru-
ment or chain of series if instruments designed to carry out specific
function or for a particular use (Commer. Of Customs v. C-NET Com-
munication (1) (P) Ltd., (2007) 12 SCC 72, 82-83, para 36).
Apparatus is a compound instrument designed to carry out a spe-
cific function or for a particular use. I.C.B. (P) Ltd. v. CCE, 1997 (95)
E.L.T. 239 (T).”
(ai) That, the Appellant encloses herewith the interpretation of the ex-
pression ‘apparatus’, ‘equipment’ , ‘machinery’ given as a compen-
dium in various dictionaries. In terms of the above definition, it is
clear that the railway siding in question having a particular function
or intended for a specific use of transport of materials can get right-
ly covered under the definition of “plant and machinery”.
(aj) That, the railway siding in question does not definitely qualify as
land/building. The exclusion is for land, building or any other civil
structure. Applying the principle of ejusdem generis, it needs to be
understood that the phrase “any other civil structures” has to be
read in conjunction with land and building. Any civil structure in
the nature of land and building will ordinarily be a place from
where the business is being carried on and not a structure used in
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