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CASE NO.: Appeal (civil)  5823-5832 of 2005

PETITIONER: M/s. Craft Interiors Pvt. Ltd.                        

RESPONDENT: Commissioner of Central Excise,Bangalore & Anr.                                                

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 31/10/2006

BENCH: Ashok Bhan & Markandey Katju

JUDGMENT: J U D G M E N T

MARKANDEY KATJU, J.

       These appeals have been filed under Section 35L(b) of the  Central Excise Act, 1944 against the impugned order of the  Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (hereinafter  referred to as ‘The Tribunal’), South Zone Bench, Bangalore dated  10.5.2005.

Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.

The appellant is a private limited company which undertakes  various activities, which includes civil works, painting, ceiling  work, electrical work, laying of vinyl flooring, tables, chairs, sofa  sets, erection of immovable items viz., partitions  (wooden/glass/aluminium/gypsum board), storages, workstations,  laying of wooden flooring, column cladding, skirting, mirror  paneling, window sill, wooden steps, doors, huge conference tables  and huge reception tables depending on the customer’s  requirements.  The customer places a purchase order to the  appellants on a turn-key basis for the entire activity.  The customer  usually gives a bare open floor which has an exterior wall and  internal columns to the appellants for undertaking the work.  

In pursuance of the above said activities, the appellant also  manufactures furniture as part of the above mentioned activities.

The markings based on the drawings approved by the  architect are first made on the floor or the wall, as the case may be,  depending on whether the item to be erected is a storage unit, large  conference table/reception table, running counter etc.  Various  materials such as wood and plywood are procured from the open  market.  Frames of the wood are cut to size and fixed to the wall or  floor.  The plywood required is cut to size and fixed to the wall  using screws and nails.  Skeletal boxes are then made and fixed on  the wall on marked position.  Interior partitions and shelves are  then made in the case of storage units, running counters, rear unit  etc.  Once these activities are completed the whole unit is  laminated or veneered which would cover the screws and nails.  In  other words, after these storage units, kitchen counters or  conference tables/reception tables are erected they cannot be  removed as such and cannot be moved from one place to another.   It cannot be dismantled and removed in complete or semi knocked

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condition from one place to another.  It can only be cannibalized as  a result of which it gets reduced to broken pieces of wood,  laminates etc.

The Central Excise authorities issued various show cause  notices to the appellants alleging that the appellants had  manufactured and assembled excisable goods i.e. furniture and  furniture parts falling under Chapter 9404 in the premises of  various customers.  In response it was contended by the appellants  that activities undertaken by them i.e. erection of storage units,  kitchen counters, reception tables/conference tables etc. results in  emergence of immovable property and could not be considered as  excisable goods.

The Commissioner vide his order dated 24.9.2003 held that  items like storage units, running counters, large reception tables  etc. are classifiable under Chapter 9403 as furniture and liable to  excise duty.   Aggrieved by the said order the appellants filed an  appeal to the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal,  Bangalore which agreed with the findings of the Commissioner  that although these items emerge on a piece by piece fabrication,  the commodity is known in the market by name of table, storage  counters etc. and as such are classifiable as furniture under Sub- heading 9403 of the Central Excise Tariff as furniture.  Aggrieved,  the appellants have filed the present appeal.

The issue which arises for consideration in these appeals is  whether storage cabinets, kitchen counters, running counters, large  reception/conference tables etc. are excisable as furniture.  

Learned counsels for the appellants Shri Laxmikumaran and  Shri Madhav Rao submitted that these items are fixtures and not  furniture, and hence were not subject to the levy of excise duty.

In this connection we may refer to Chapter Sub-heading 9403  of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 which reads as under:

"Other furniture and parts thereof"

Learned counsel for the appellants submits that the word  ’furniture’ means objects which are moveable and are complete  before being placed either on the floor or the ground.  Learned  counsel also submitted that the word ’furniture’ does not cover  items which emerge either as part of an immoveable property or  are erected stage by stage in its completion.  These, he submitted,  were fixtures and not furniture.  He submitted that several of the  items in question were erected piece by piece and fixed to the wall  or ground and as such are not moveable property.  In other words,  the same cannot be removed without cannibalizing i.e. without  reducing them into broken piece of wood, laminates etc.  

In this connection we may refer to the definition of  ’furniture’ in various dictionaries.  The Concise Oxford English  Dictionary (Tenth Edn. Revised) defines ’furniture’ as follows :

"the movable articles that are used to make a room or  building suitable for living or working in, such as tables,  chairs, or desks".  

Similarly, Chambers English Dictionary defines ’furniture’ as  follows :

"movables, either for use or ornament, with which a house  is equipped".

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New Webster’s Dictionary defines ’furniture’ as follows:  " the movable articles, such as tables, chairs, desks,  required for use or ornament in a house or office"  

Thus, a perusal of the definitions given in various  dictionaries shows that ordinarily ’furniture’ refers to movable  items such as desks, tables, chairs, required for use or  ornamentation in a house or office.  Thus, ordinarily furniture is  not something immovable or something which is fixed in a  position which can be removed only by cannibalizing.  We agree  with learned counsel for the appellants that the latter are fixtures  and not furniture.

Several of the items in question in the present case e.g.  kitchen overhead and below counters, storage units are, in our  opinion, clearly not ’furniture’ and hence not excisable under Sub- heading 9403 as furniture.

In view of the above discussion, we are of the opinion that  these appeals have to be allowed.  We hold that items which are  ordinarily immovable or which ordinarily cannot be removed  without cannibalizing e.g. storage units, running counters, over- head unit, rear and side unit, wall unit, pantry unit, kitchen unit and  other items which are ordinarily immovable or cannot be removed  without cannibalizing are not furniture.  However, items like  tables, desks, chairs etc. are furniture and hence excisable.

We may add that sometimes chairs, beds, tables, desks, etc.  are affixed to the ground, but nevertheless they will still be called  as furniture (one may recall the fixed bed in Sherlock Holme’s  story ‘The Speckled Band’).  This is because when we interpret a  word we should not only see the dictionary meaning but even more  the popular meaning which the word has acquired in common  parlance.  As stated by K.L. Sarkar in his book "Mimansa Rules of  Interpretation" (see second edition published by Modern Law  Publication, Allahabad), "the popular meaning overpowers the  etymological meaning." *

To give an example, the word ‘pankaja’ literally means born  in mud.  The word ‘panka’ means ‘mud’, and the word ‘ja’ means  ‘which is born in’.  Hence the etymological meaning of the word  ‘pankaja’   is that ‘which is born in mud’.  Many things can be  born in mud e.g. insects, vegetation, water flowers, etc. However,  by popular usage the word ‘pankaja’ has acquired a particular  meaning in common parlance i.e. lotus.  This meaning will,  therefore, prevail over the etymological meanings.  

Similarly, the word ‘furniture’ has a meaning in common  parlance which every layman understands.  It commonly refers to  chairs, desks, tables, beds, etc.  Hence we should give it this  popular meaning. * The appeals are allowed. The impugned orders are set aside  and the matter is remitted to the Tribunal to pass a fresh order after  hearing the parties preferably within three months from the date of  receipt of this order, in accordance with law and in the light of the  observations made above.  No costs. 28165