GSTR No. 12 of 1997 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH GSTR No. 12 of 1997 Date of Decision: 10.8.2010 M/s Heating Engineers ....Petitioner. Versus State of Haryana ...Respondent. CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ADARSH KUMAR GOEL. HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AJAY KUMAR MITTAL. PRESENT: Mr. R.P. Sawhney, Senior Advocate with Mr. Saurav Khurana, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. Ajay Gupta, Additional Advocate General, Haryana. ADARSH KUMAR GOEL, J. 1. Following question of law has been referred by the Sales Tax Tribunal-I, Haryana (in short “the Tribunal”) for opinion of this Court under Section 42 of the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) arising out of its order dated 30.12.1991 passed in STA Nos. 743 and 744 of 1990-91 for the assessment year 1988-89:- “Whether on the facts and circumstances of the case, the heating elements which are only accessory to machinery appliances within the meaning of item 16 of the notification dated 30.12.1987 and whether the Tribunal was justified in holding the same as electric GSTR No. 12 of 1997 -2- appliance?” 2. The assessing authority finalized the assessment of the assessee for the year in question. The revisional authority exercising its suo motu power revised the said order and created additional demand of tax inter alia on the ground that 'heating elements' which were part of turnover of the sales were covered by Entry 16 of notification dated 30.12.1987 which was liable to be taxed at the first stage. The dealer claimed deduction in respect of the said turnover on the ground that the same were not covered by entry 16 of “electrical appliance” and the sales were to registered dealers against declaration. The view taken by the said revisional authority was upheld by the Tribunal. Finding recorded by the Tribunal is as under:- “I have considered the arguments of both the parties and have also gone through the record produced by the District Attorney from its very design and function the heating element is an item which is clearly covered by the term 'electrical appliance' and indicated in item No.16 of the notification dated 30.12.1987. Since the sale of heating element is taxable at first stage of sale, the sale of heating element to the registered dealer is not admissible under law. The appellant has, therefore, rightly been taxed by the Revisional Authority on account of sale of heating elements.” 3. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. GSTR No. 12 of 1997 -3- 4. Learned counsel for the assessee submitted that notification dated 30.12.1987 stood superseded by notification dated March 18, 1988 which was applicable for the assessment year 1988-89. He further submitted that heating elements could not be treated as electrical appliances as the term “electrical appliances” denoted complete apparatus or instrument distinct from material of which it was made. The heating element was not a complete apparatus to be used by itself but only a part of apparatus to which it was attached for heating such as geyser or other machinery and the sale of 'heating elements' did not attract the entry in question. It is, thus, submitted that the notification dated March 18, 1988 changed the language by omitting the words “their parts” used in notification dated December 30, 1987 and, thus, heating elements which may be part of electrical appliances and may be covered by notification dated December 30, 1987, are not covered by notification dated March 18, 1988 on account of deletion of words “their parts”. Reliance has been placed on a Division Bench judgment of this Court in Khaitan Electricals Ltd. v. State of Haryana, [2001] 29 VST 28 (P&H), wherein it was held that a cooler pump which was a part of air cooler/desert cooler will not be covered by the expression “electrical appliances” used in the said notification. 5. Learned counsel for the revenue has not been able to show any other judgment dealing with the issue. 6. In view of Division Bench judgment, we hold that 'heating elements' were not covered by the expression 'electrical appliances' in the notification dated 18.3.1988 which is the notification applicable for the assessment year 1988-89. GSTR No. 12 of 1997 -4- 7. Accordingly, the question referred is answered in favour of the dealer-assessee and against the revenue. (ADARSH KUMAR GOEL) JUDGE August 10, 2010 (AJAY KUMAR MITTAL) gbs JUDGE