Judgment

CHANDRACHUD, CJI.:- This is a group of Civil Appeals and Special Leave Petitions arising out of a judgment dated October 19, 1982 delivered by a Division Bench of the High Court of Delhi in a batch of Writ Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution. Those Writ Petitions having been dismissed by the High Court, the Writ-petitioners have filed these Appeals and Special Leave Petitions.

2. The facts of the various writ petitions naturally vary from case to case but, such variation has no bearing on the points which arise for our decision. We will mention the, facts of Civil Appeals Nos. 27-33 of 1983 as a representative batch of cases. The. two appellants therein are respectively Messers Eastern Engineers, a partnership firm carrying on business at Goregaon, Bombay, and a partner of that firm. For the sake of convenience, we will proceed on the basis that the real appellant is the firm. The appellant carries on the business, inter alia, of importing brass scrap from other countries. Its contention is that the additional duty of customs, which is in the nature of countervailing duty, cannot be levied on brass scrap because, such scrap which consists of damaged brass articles like taps and pipes, is not "manufactured" in India (or elsewhere), as indeed it cannot be. The second contention of the appellant is that it is liable to pay duty of customs on the brass scrap at the rate of 40 only and not at the rate of 80 because, brass scrap is a master alloy. The rate of customs duty payable depends upon which of the two Notifications, granting exemption from payment of customs duty, is applicable. These contentions are based on the following provisions of law.

3. Section 2(15) of the Customs Act, 1962 defines "duty" to mean a duty of customs leviable under the Act. Chapter V of the Act contains provisions for the levy of, and exemption from, customs duties. By Section 12(1) of the Act, "Except as otherwise provided in the Act or in any other law for the time being in force", duties of customs shall be levied. at such rates as may be specified under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 or under any other law for the time being in force, on goods imported into or exported from India. Section 25 of the Customs Act, which deals with the power of the Central Government to grant exemption from the payment of Customs duty, provides by sub-section (1) that, if the Central Government is satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, it may, by a notification in the Official Gazette, exempt generally, either absolutely or subject to such conditions as may be specified, goods of any specified description from the whole or any part of the duty of customs leviable thereon.

4. Section 2 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 says that the rates at which duties of customs shall be levied under the Customs Act, 1962 are specified in the First and Second Schedules of the Tariff Act. S. 3 of the Tariff Act deals with the levy of "additional duty equal to excise duty". Sub-sec. (1) of S. 3 and the Explanation to that section which are relevant for our purpose, read thus

"Levy of additional. duty equal to excise duty. (1) Any article which is imported into India shall, in addition be liable to a duty (hereafter in this section referred to as the additional duty) equal to the excise duty for the time being leviable on a like article if produced or manufactured in India and if such excise duty on a like article is leviable at any percentage of its value, the additional duty to which. the imported article shall be so liable shall be calculated at that percentage of the value of the imported article.

Explanation - In this section the expression "the excise duty for the time being leviable on a like article if produced or manufactured in India" means the excise duty for the time being in force which would be leviable on a like article if produced or manufactured in India or, if a like article is not so produced or manufactured which would be l