Supply of Pipes to Water Supply Project - Board accepts Supreme Court Order!
IN 2009-TIOL-167-CESTAT-BANG, the CESTAT, Bangalore Bench held that
Supply of pipes to Water Supply Project - exemption not restricted to the first storage point; available to subsequent points; in the impugned notification, pipes needed for delivery of water from its source to the plant and from there to the storage facilities have been exempted; the Notification merely talks about the storage facilities and there is no restriction that the water should be delivered only to the first storage point, as has been provided in the amended notification with effect from 01.03.2007; It is obvious that the unamended notification would have to be interpreted to cover the impugned pipes which were needed to deliver water not only to the first storage point but also to the second and subsequent storage point, such as elevated storage reservoirs where the water was further treated for chlorination. If it was the intention of the government to restrict the exemption for pipes up to first storage point, the notification should have been accordingly worded from the beginning.
Naturally Revenue is not satisfied with such orders and took the matter to the Supreme Court – as usual with a belated appeal.
The Supreme Court condoned the delay but dismissed the Revenue Appeal []
The benign Board has accepted the Supreme Court order!
In a communication to the concerned Commissioner, on a reference made him, the CBEC has informed that the “ Board has accepted the order of the Supreme Court ”
What is this concept of the Board accepting the order of the Supreme Court? Can the Board reject or refuse to accept an order of the Supreme Court? Isn't the order of the Supreme Court, the law of the land and, binding on everybody including the mighty Board? Isn't it contempt of the Supreme Court to state that the Board has accepted its order?
Many an officer feels that a Supreme Court order is binding on him only if the all-powerful Board accepts it.
The other day, addressing a gathering of assessees, an Additional Commissioner of Central Excise remarked that the Courts did not understand the legislative philosophy and were striking down tax provisions. He went on to advise the assessees not to rely on these Court orders and pay up taxes whenever the Department was kind to demand them! And it came to our notice that this particular officer has more respect for the Reserve Bank of India than the Supreme Court of India. He could be easily persuaded by the pieces of paper signed by the RBI Governor (also known as currency notes) than by the erudite orders passed by the judges of the Supreme Court, who do not understand the tax laws as much as our learned Revenue Officer!
Even when Revenue has contemptuously decided to accept the Supreme Court order, shouldn't it make the acceptance public through a Circular? In this case, only one Commissioner was informed that the Board has accepted the Supreme Court order. Other Commissioners are free to issue SCNs blissfully ignorant that Board has been kind enough to the Supreme Court by accepting its order!
Why can't the Board maintain a database of the cases disposed of by High Courts and Supreme Court and whether Board has accepted those orders and make this information available in the public domain so that the Department and the assesses will know the correct position.
TIOL will be happy to be associated with the Board – and freely.