Civil Appeal No 3744 of 1984 From the Judgement and order dated the 25th April 1984 of the Customs Excise and Gold Control Appellate Tribunal New Delhi in Appeal No CDSB T ANo 170 of 1980 Order No 297 B of 1984
VN Deshpande and EC Agarwala for the Appellant
The Judgement of the Court was delivered by 1148 VENKATARAMIAH J
This appeal is filed under section 130 Eb of the against Order No 297 B84 dated April 25 1984 passed by the Customs Excise and Gold Control Tribunal New Delhi
The appellant imported two consignments weighing 0955 m tonne and 1071 m tonnes of stainless steel plates covered by Bill of Entry No 725111 dated August 2 1979 and Bill of Entry No 520250 dated July 16 1979 respectively
Under section 12 of the the appellant was liable to pay customs duty in accordance with Heading No 7315 of the First Schedule to the at the standard rate of 22 ad valorem
But under the notification dated July 15 1977 an importer was liable to pay import duty of 40 only on the said goods provided the conditions mentioned therein were satisfied
In order to avail of the said concessional rate of duty the importer should import the goods for the manufacture of all or any of the articles specified in that notification and should bind himself by the execution of a bond in such form and for such sum as may be specified by the Assistant Collector of Customs to pay on demand in respect of such quantity of imported stainless steel plates as is not proved to the satisfaction of the Assistant Collector of Customs to have been used for such manufacture an amount equal to the difference between the duty leviable on such quantity but for the exemption contained in the notification and that already paid at the time of importation
It was further provided that the articles so manufactured had to be sold to industrial units for their use and payment for such articles was to be made by the concerned industrial unit by a crossed cheque drawn on the buyer s own bank account
Accordingly the appellant executed two bonds which were guaranteed by a branch of the Dena Bank and cleared the goods by paying customs duty at the concessional rate undertaking to comply with the requirements of the notification
Subsequently on March 10 1980 the Assistant Collector called upon the appellant to pay full customs duty as the end use certificates in respect of the goods in question had not been filed before the Customs Department
Then the appellant forwarded the required certificates issued by its Chartered Accountants certifying that the goods had been consumed in the manufacture of the articles specified in the notification such as pharmaceutical machineries equipment pressure vessels jacketed vessels etc
and the same had been sold to fertilizers and chemical industry and petroleum and oil refinery industry
But the Assistant Collector of Customs directed the payment of Rs 24244 and Rs 26850 being the deficient duty payable in respect of the two consignments in terms of the bonds stating that in the course of investigation 1149 it was revealed that the appellant had sold some of the manufactured items to a local dealer and not to industrial units for their own use and that some items had been sold to hospitalsnursing homes which were not industrial units
Aggrieved by the order of the Assistant Collector the appellant filed two appeals before the Collector of Customs Appeals Bombay contesting inter alia the finding that hospitals were not industrial units
The Appellate Collector rejected the appellants contention that hospitals were industrial units and hold that as far as the supplies effected by the appellant to hospitals and nursing homes were concerned the condition that the manufactured goods should be sold to industrial units had not been fulfilled
The appeals were rejected to that extent
The cases were remanded however to the Assistant Collector for fresh decision on another issue with which we are not concerned
Against the common order passed by the Collector of Customs Appeals in the above said two appeals the appellant filed a revision petition under section 131 of the  as it then stood before the Government of India
That revision petition was later on transferred to the above said Tribunal
The appellant also filed another appeal before the Tribunal directly since there were two appeals before the Appellate Collector
The principle contention urged before the Tribunal was that the Department was wrong in holding the hospitals and nursing homes were not industrial units
The Tribunal rejected that contention and dismissed the appeals
This appeal is filed against the order of the Tribunal
When the above case came up for admission the only ground urged by the learned counsel for the appellant was that the Tribunal was not right in holding that hospitals and nursing homes were not industries and reliance was placed by him on a decision of this Court under the in which it had been held that hospitals dispensaries and nursing homes were also industries
As the appellant has relied on a decision of this Court arising under the in support of its case which requires to be distinguished we are passing this order giving our reasons although it is not usual to do so when an appeal is dismissed without notice to the respondents
The expression industry  has many meanings
It means skill  ingenuity  dexterity  diligence  systematic work or labour  habitual employment in the productive arts  manufacturing establishment  etc But while construing a word which occurs in a statute or a statutory instrument in the absence of any definition in 1150 that very document it must be given the same meaning which it receives in ordinary parlance or understood in the sense in which people conversant with the subject matter of the statute or statutory instrument understand it
It is hazardous to interpret a word in accordance with its definition in another statute or statutory instrument and more so when such statute or statutory instrument is not dealing with any cognate subject
Craies on Statute Law 6th Edn says thus and page 164 In construing a word in an Act caution is necessary in adopting the meaning ascribed to the word in other Acts
It would be a new terror in the construction of Acts of Parliament if we were required to limit a word to an unnatural sense because in some Act which is not incorporated or referred to such an interpretation is given to it for the purposes of that Act alone Macbeth vs Chislett  223
 When the word to be construed is used in a taxing statute or a notification issued thereunder it should be understood in its commercial sense
It is well known that under the law levying customs duties sometimes exemptions are given from the levy of the whole or a part of customs duty when the goods in question are sold either in the form in which they are received or in a manufactured or semi manufactured state to a manufacturing establishment for purposes of using them in manufacturing finished or semi finished goods in order to lessen the cost of machinery or equipment employed in or raw materials used by such manufacturing establishment
The object of granting such exemption is to give encouragement to factories or establishments which carry on manufacturing business
The appellant however relies upon the meaning assigned to the word industry  in the in support of its case
The expression industry  is no doubt given a very wide definition in section 2 j of the 
It reads thus 2 j industry  means any business trade undertaking manufacture or calling of employers and includes any calling service employment handicraft or industrial occupation or avocation of workmen
 The above definition is given in the context of the subject matter with which the is concerned
The pith and substance of that act is to make provision for settlement of 1151 disputes between employers and employees in institutions establishments industrial or business houses or factories of various kinds
It is true that in the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board etc
vs R Rajappa  Ors
this Court has hold that hospitals would also come within the definition of the expression industry  given in the which is as wide as the legislature could have possibly made it
But that definition cannot be used for interpreting the word industry  in a notification granting exemption from customs duty under the 
A perusal of the provisions of the Constitutions shows that the expression industry  does not ordinarily posses such wide meaning
In Article 19 6 ii the word industry  does not include trade  business  or service  which are specifically referred to therein
Then we have the expression industry  in Entires 7 and 52 of List I Entry 24 of List II and Entry 33 of List III of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution
The said expression in these entries does not include trade or commerce or distribution of goods which are found else where in the said Lists
What is of significance is that in List II hospitals and dispensaries  are specifically referred to in Entry 6 and they cannot therefore possibly fall under Entry 24 thereof which refers to industries 
As observed by this Court in Ch
Tika Ramji  Ors
vs The State of Uttar Pradesh  Ors industry  in the wide sense of the term would be capable of comprising three different aspects 1 raw materials which are an integral part of the industrial process 2 the process of manufacture or production and 3 the distribution of the products of the industry
But raw materials are dealt with by Entry 27 of List II the process of manufacture or production by Entry 24 of List II except where the industry is a controlled industry when it would fall under Entry 52 of List I and the products of the industry would fall under Entry 27 of List II except where they are products of controlled industry when they would fall under Entry 33 of List III
An analysis of these provisions shows that industry  ordinarily means the process of manufacture or production
We have referred to the above provisions of the Constitution only to show how that expression is understood ordinarily
It may also be relevant to mention here that the new definition given to the word industry  by Parliament in the Industrial Disputes Amendment Act 1982 46 of 1982 specifically excludes hospitals or dispensaries  from the category of industry 
It shows that the meaning given to the expression industry  in the Industrial 1152 Disputes Act 1947 cannot be depended upon while construing other statutes or statutory instruments and it should be confined to the 
We are of the view that in the notification under which the exemption is claimed by the petitioner the word industry  means only the place where the process of manufacture or production of goods is carried on and it cannot in any event include hospitals dispensaries or nursing homes 
The decision of the Tribunal does not call for any interference
The appeal is therefore rejected


Summary:
The appellant imported some stainless steel plates at concessional rate of import duty under a notification which provided  i that the importer should import the goods for the manufacture of all or any of the articles specified in that notification ii that the articles so manufactured had to be sold to industrial units for their use iii that in case of violation of any one of the conditions above mentioned the importer was liable to pay in respect of such quantity of goods as is not proved to have been utilised as per the notification an amount equal to the difference between the duty leviable on such quantity but for the exemption contained in the notification and that already paid at the time of importation
The appellant submitted a certificate that the goods imported by him under the notification had been consumed andor utilised as per the notification
But the Assistant Collector of Customs rejected the said certificate and held that the appellant was liable to pay the deficient duty in respect of the goods which had been sold to hospitalsnursing homes since they were not industrial units within the meaning of the 
The Collector of Customs Appeals confirmed the order in appeal
The revision petition of the appellant before the Customs Excise and Gold Control Tribunal also failed
The appellant contended before this Court that the word industrial units  contained in the notification should be given the same meaning as is assigned to the word industry  in the Industrial Dispute Act 1947
Dismissing the appeal  HELD 1 The expression industry  has many meanings
It means skill  ingenuity  dexterity  diligence  systematic work or labour  habitual employment in the productive arts  manufacturing establishment etc
While construing a word which occurs in a statute or a statutory instrument in the 1147 absence of any definition in that very document it must be given the same meaning which it receives in ordinary parlance or understood in the sense in which people conversant with the subject matter of the statute or statutory instrument understand it
It is hazardous to interpret a word in a accordance with its definition in another statute or statutory instrument and more so when such statute or statutory instrument is not dealing with any cognate subject
1149 H 1150 A B Craies on statute Law 6th Edn p 164 referred to
2 Industry  in the wide sense of the term would be capable of comprising three different aspects 1 raw materials which are an integral part of the industrial process 2 the process of manufacture or production and 3 the distribution of the products of the industry
An analysis of Entry 24 and 27 of List II Entry 52 of List I and Entry 33 of List III of the Constitution shows that industry  ordinarily means the process of manufacture or production
1151 E F Sh
Tika Ramji  Ors
vs The State of Uttar Pradesh  Ors  at p 420 followed
3 It is true that in the Bangalore Water Supply  Sewerage Board etc
vs R Rajappa  Ors
19783 SCR 207 this Court has held that hospitals would also come within the definition of the expression industry  given in the Industrial Dispute Act 1947
But that definition cannot be used for interpreting the word industry  in a notification granting exemption from customs duty under the 
When the word to be construed is used in a taxing statute or a notification issued thereunder it should be understood in its commercial sense
1151 B C 4 The new definition given to the word industry  by Parliament in the Industrial Disputes Amendment Act 1982 46 of 1982 also specifically excludes hospitals or dispensaries  from the category of industry 
It shows that the meaning given to the expression industry  in the cannot be depended upon while construing other statutes or statutory instruments and it should be confined to the 
Therefore the word industry  means only the place where the process of manufacture or production of goods is carried on and it cannot in any event include hospitals  dispensaries or nursing homes
1151 G H 1152 A B