Judgment

SIKRI, J. :- I have had the advantage of reading the draft judgment prepared by Hegde, J., but, while I agree with him that there is no force in the plea of limitation advanced on behalf of the assessee, in my opinion the appeal should fail on the ground that the excise duty was levied correctly as determined by the Central Government in its order dated November 2, 1967.

2. The facts are fully set out in the judgment of Hegde, J. It is only necessary to mention a few facts in order to make this judgment readable. The assessee manufactures iron and steel products. It manufactured wires out of steel rods, which had been imported by it prior to April 24, 1962. Item 26AA was added to the First Schedule of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (I of 1944) - hereinafter referred to as the Excise Act - by Finance Act (No. 2), 1962 (XX of 1962) with effect from the April 24, 1962. This reads as under:

"26-AA IRON OR STEEL PRODUCTS, THE FOLLOWING, NAMELY:

(i) Bars, rods coils, wires, joists, girders, angles, channels, tees, flats, beams, zeds, trough, piling and all other rolled, forged or extruded shapes and sections, not otherwise specified. Five per cent. ad valorem plus the excise duty for the time being leviable on pig iron or steel ingots, as the case may be.

(ii) plates and sheets, other than plates and sheets intended for tinning, and hoops, and strips, all sorts, including galvanised or corrugated plates and sheets. Seven and a half per cent. ad valorem plus the excise duty for the time being leviable on pig iron or steel ingots, as the case may be.

(iii) Uncoated plates and sheets intended for tinning. Seven and a half per cent,. ad valorem plus the excise duty for the time being leviable on pig iron or steel ingots, as the case may be.

(iv) Pipes and tubes (including blanks therefore) all sorts, whether rolled, forged, spun, cast, drawn annealed, welded or extruded. Five per cent. ad valorem plus the excise duty for the time being leviable on pig iron or steel ingots. as the case may be.

(v) All other steel castings, not otherwise specified. Five per cent. ad valorem plus the excise duty for the time being leviable on the steel ingots."

The short point that arises is this: What is the duty leviable on the wires manufactured by the assessee out of steel rods which had already been imported? For the time being I will ignore notifications issued under Rule 8 (1) of the rules made under the Excise Act, and the amendments made by the Finance Act (No. 2) of 1962, and the Indian Traffic (Amendment Act) 1963 (III of 1963) to the Indian Traffic Act, 1934.

3. "Wires" are mentioned in item No. 26AA(i). Therefore we have to scrutinize the third column of item 26-AA (i) for the rate of duty. Three points need clarification:

(a) What is the meaning of or inference derivable from the word plus ?

(b) What is the meaning of the formula "the excise duty for the time being leviable on pig iron or steel ingots?"

(c) What is the import of the words " as the case may be?"

4. The word plus in the context indicates that the rate of duty consists of 2 parts: one part is ad valorem duty and the other is the excise duty calculated according to the formula given. In other words, both duties have to be levied. I will presently discuss what the formula means but this is clear that the third column contemplates one duty, consisting of two parts, being levied.

5. Before I discuss the meaning of the formula it will clarify matters if the import of the words "as the case may be" is first ascertained. These words indicate that a choice has to be made between two types of excise duties-excise duty leviable on pig iron or excise duty leviable on steel ingots. Sub-items (ii), (iii) and (iv) of item 26AA use the same of words. In sub-item (v) excise duty leviable on steel ingots is only mentioned. This sub-item consist of steel casting. This indicates that the duty is being calculated thus because steel casting have been made from steel ingots. Item 26AA deal