Union Carbide India Ltd. vs Collector Of C. Ex. on 14 June, 1996
In State of Gujarat v. Minu Chemical Pvt. Ltd. [1982] 50 STC 339, it was held by another Bench of the Gujarat High Court that an article to be machinery must either be a completed machine or a number of completed machines, or parts or members of a machine which, when they are assembled, form a complete machine. The assessee therein was carrying on the business of manufacturing and selling chemicals. During the relevant accounting year, the assessee purchased certain articles and in the course of the assessment proceedings under the Gujarat Sales Tax Act, 1969, claimed set-off in respect of the amount of tax paid by it on the purchase of the above articles on the ground that the said articles were "machinery" used by it in the manufacture of goods for sale. It is in this manner that the question arose whether the articles purchased by the assessee constituted "machinery". The Division Bench referred to the literal meaning of the word "machinery" in English dictionaries, and to the decision of the Privy Council referred to above, and held that inasmuch as the articles in question are found to be parts of the plant which consists of a processing unit, those articles must be treated as machinery.