Case: Collector of Central Excise Vs. Fusebase Eltoto Limited

The Assistant Collector Central Excise and the Collector of Central Excise (Appeals) answered the question in the negative and against the respondent. On further appeal by the respondent, the Customs, ExciseGold (Control) Appellate Tribunal (the Tribunal) reversed the findings of the authorities below by the its order dated March 5, 1990 and came to the conclusion that the "Projection Television Sets" are the same as " Broadcast Television receiver sets" and as such the respondent was entitled to the exemption claimed. This appeal by the central Excise Department through the Collector of Central Excise Meerut is against the order of the Tribunal.2. The Projection Television sets manufactured by the respondentcompany are sold under the brand names Hotline Projectavision 203, Hotline Projectavision 303, Hotline Projectavision 503 and Hotline Projectavision 222. A single set consists of aand a screen. Different models have screens of different sizes. The screen size for the model Hotline Projectavision 203 is 200 CM (79"), for Hotline Projectavision 303, the screen size is 300 Cm (119") etc. Thewhich is placed at a distance from the screen, is designed to produce images upto 65 times the size of a conventional television. These sets are sold to video parlours, cinema halls, universities and other institutions for catering to a large audience. According to the respondent the projectavision is designed to accommodate various inputs such as video cassette recorders, personal computer/IBM, Doordarshan signals, video Camera, Video

Reasoning:
7. The Collector (Appeals) upheld the above quoted findings of the Assistant Collector. The Tribunal did not touch the question as to how the products called "broadcast television receiver set" is identified by the class or section of people dealing with or using the product. That is the test to be followed when the relevant notifications do not contain any definition of the products. The identity of an article is associated with its primary function and utility. The names of certain products have functional association in the mind of the consumers. There is a mental association in the mind of the consumer in respect of certain products keeping in view the utility of the product and also the reputation the name of the product has acquired in the market and among the consumers. "Broadcast television receiver sets" and the "projections television sets"are two entirely different products and the consumers in this country, as at present, do not identify these two as one and the same product. When you go to the market to buy a television set you mean the conventional Broadcast Television Receiver set and the dealer will never understand you to mean the Hotline Projector Vision 203 etc. 8. We agree with the contention of the learned counsel for the respondent that the Projector VisionProjection television sets capable of receiving television broadcasts as is being done by any other broadcast television receiver set but at the same time the two are not the same. An ordinary television set has a fixed image in the mind of the consumer in this country. One never visualises a television set having a projectionunit and a headscreen mounted at a long distance. A television setin the imagination of the consumeris a compact set with inbuilt screen which adores the drawing room and bed room. A television set in the market costs about Rs. 15, 000/to Rs. 25, 000/whereas the respondents product costs between Rs. 1, 20, 000/to Rs. 1, 50,We, therefore, agree with the view taken by the Assistant Collector and the Collector.9. We, further, agree with the Assistant Collector that the product of the respondent fully answers the description of "Video Projectors" in terms of the Notification No. 160/86 It is not disputed, rather it is the case of the respondent that the "projection television set" manufactured by them receives the televised image. Video is the transmission and reception of a televised image. In other words, it is a television image or the electric signals corresponding to it. It pertains to the picture portion of the televised programme. Projector is a devise for projecting a light beam, an apparatus for throwing illuminated images or motion pictures on the screen. The product of theprojects on a screen the video signals transmitted from the television station and received by it. The Assistant Collector has, thus, rightly reached the conclusion that the product of the respondent answers the description of a `video projector.