Commissioner of Sales Tax V. Dev Enterprises Ltd. [2011] 42 VST 504 (BOM)

Facts
The Maharashtra Sales Tax Tribunal, in an appeal filed by the dealer against the order of DDQ passed by the Commissioner of Sales Tax, held that footwear predominantly made from plastic is covered within meaning of the description of “Plastic Footwear (Moulded)” used in entry 74 of Schedule C of the MVAT Act, 2002. The Commissioner of Sales Tax filed an appeal before the Bombay High Court against the said decision of the Tribunal.

Held
The Entry 74 of Schedule C, adverts to plastic footwear, which has to be construed as it stands. Admittedly, the sole of the footwear is made of PVC compound; the upper portion is made out of plastic coated textile, which is used as base in order to avoid direct contact with skin. The question whether the footwear is made from plastic can not be determined on the basis of the notes annexed to section XII of Chapter 64 to the Excise Tariff. In order to fall for classification under Schedule Entry C-74, the product must constitute Plastic Footwear. Adding the expression “predominant” to the interpretative process is to add words to the entry; that is to amend the entry – something that is impermissible. Further, the High Court noting the fact that in the market footwear made completely of plastic available for sale held that the entry adverts to plastic footwear; it must mean what it states.

The High Court allowed the appeal filed by the Department and held that the Tribunal committed error in holding that footwear which is predominantly made of plastic and made by a moulding process gets covered by the description of plastic moulded footwear.