Civil Appeal No. 5802 of 2005. Case: Shabina Abraham and Ors. Vs Collector of Central Excise and Customs. Supreme Court (India)
| Case Number | Civil Appeal No. 5802 of 2005 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: M. P. Vinod, Adv. and For Respondents: B. Krishna Prasad, Adv. |
| Judges | A.K. Sikri and Rohinton Fali Nariman, JJ. |
| Issue | Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 - Sections 2, 3, 4(3), 6, 11, 11A; Income Tax Act, 1961 - Sections 44, 147, 147(1), 159, 159(2), 159(3), 159(4), 159(5), 161(2), 162, 167, 167(4), 167(5), 168, 189(1); General Clauses Act, 1897 - Section 3(42), General Clauses Act, 1897 - Section 6; Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963; Central Excise Tariff ... |
| Citation | AIR 2015 SCW 4458, 2015 (322) ELT 372 (SC) |
| Judgement Date | July 29, 2015 |
| Court | Supreme Court (India) |
Judgment:
Rohinton Fali Nariman, J.
1. "Nothing is certain except death and taxes." Thus spake Benjamin Franklin in his letter of November 13, 1789 to Jean Baptiste Leroy. To tax the dead is a contradiction in terms. Tax laws are made by the living to tax the living. What survives the dead person is what is left behind in the form of such person's property. This appeal raises questions as to whether the dead person's property, in the form of his or her estate, can be taxed without the necessary machinery provisions in a tax statute. The precise question that arises in the present case is whether an assessment proceeding under the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944, can continue against the legal representatives/estate of a sole proprietor/manufacturer after he is dead. The facts of the case are as follows.
2. One Shri George Varghese was the sole proprietor of Kerala Tyre and Rubber Company Limited. By October 1985, this proprietary concern had stopped manufacture and production of tread rubber. By a show cause notice dated 12.6.1987, for the period January 1983 to December 1985, it was alleged that the Assessee had manufactured and cleared tread rubber from the factory premises by suppressing the fact of such production and removal with an intent to evade payment of excise duty. The provisions of Section 11A, as they then stood, of the Central Excises and Salt Act were invoked and duty amounting to Rs. 74,35,242/- was sought to be recovered from the Assessee together with imposition of penalty for clandestine removal.
3. On 14.3.1989, the said Shri George Varghese died. As a result of his death, a second show cause notice was issued on 18.10.1989 to his wife and four daughters asking them to make submissions with regard to the demand of duty made in the show cause notice dated 12.6.1987. By their reply dated 25.10.1989, the said legal heirs of the deceased stated that none of them had any personal association with the deceased in his proprietary business and were not in a position to locate any business records. They submitted that the proceedings initiated against the deceased abated on his death in the absence of any provision in the Central Excises and Salt Act to continue assessment proceedings against a dead person in the hands of the legal representatives. The said show cause notice was, therefore, challenged as being without jurisdiction.
4. As the Central Excise Authorities posted the matter for hearing and refused to pass an order on the maintainability of the show cause notice alone, the legal heirs approached the High Court Under Article 226 of the Constitution by filing a Writ Petition in January, 1990. The learned single Judge of the High Court quashed the proceedings against the legal heirs stating that the Central Excises and Salt Act did not contain any provisions for continuing assessment proceedings against a dead person. Against this, revenue went in appeal. The Division Bench of the High Court of Kerala reversed the single Judge's judgment.
5. Shri Rajshekhar Rao, learned Counsel appearing for the legal heirs made submissions before us with great clarity and persuasiveness. He submitted that a reading of Sections 2(f), (3), Section 4(3)(a), Section 11 and 11A as they stood at the relevant time would show that unlike the provisions of the Income Tax Act, there is no machinery provision in the Central Excises and Salt Act for continuing assessment proceedings against a dead individual. He stressed the fact that an Assessee under the said Act means "the person" who is liable to pay the duty of excise under this Act and further stressed the fact that in cases of short levy, such duty can only be recovered from a person who is chargeable with the duty that has been short levied. He further invited our attention to the Central Excise Rules and Rules 2(3) and 7 in particular to buttress his submission that there is no machinery provision contained either in the Act or in the Rules to proceed against a dead person's legal heirs. He cited certain judgments before us which we will advert to later on in this judgment.
6. Shri A.K. Panda, learned senior advocate appearing on behalf of the revenue contended that a close reading of Section 11 of the Central Excises and Salt Act will indicate that sums are recoverable from an Assessee by an attachment and sale of excisable goods belonging to such Assessee and further that if the amount so recoverable falls short, it can be recovered from the person himself as an arrear of land revenue. Inasmuch as a dead man's property can be attached and sold and proceeded against, it is clear that the necessary machinery is contained in the Central Excises and Salt Act. His further submission is that Section 11A of the said Act is a machinery provision and, therefore, the rule to be applied is that that construction should be preferred which makes a machinery Section workable. He also referred us to the definition of "person" in Section 3(42) of the General Clauses Act to buttress his submission that a legal representative would be included within a "person" as so defined. He referred us to Section 6 of the said Act dealing with registration and argued that registration of a person makes him a legal entity liable to be assessed as such. His other submission is that the general principle, namely, that a cause of action abates when a person who institutes a proceeding dies is not applicable in the present case and cited various judgments before us in support of the said principle. He also submitted that the position under the Income Tax Act would be entirely different as income tax is a tax leviable on a person whereas a duty of excise is leviable on manufacture of goods. He also cited a number of decisions which will be dealt with in the course of this judgment.
7. We have heard learned Counsel for the parties. Before entering into a discussion on the merits of the case, it is necessary to set out the statutory provisions contained in the Central Excises and Salt Act at the relevant time, which are given below:
2(f) "manufacture" includes any process incidental or ancillary to the completion of a manufactured product; and
(i) In relation to tobacco includes the preparation of cigarettes, cigars, cheroots, biris, cigarette or pipe or hookah tobacco, chewing tobacco or snuff,
(ia) in relation to manufactured tobacco, includes the labeling or re-labelling of containers and repacking from bulk packs to retail packs or the adoption of any other treatment to render the product marketable to the consumer.
(ii) In relation to salt, includes collection, removal, preparation, steeping, evaporation, boiling, or any one or more of these processes, the separation or purification of salt obtained in the manufacture of saltpeter, the separation of salt from earth or other substance so as to produce elementary salt, and the excavation or removal of natural saline deposits or efflorescence;
(iii) In relation to patent or proprietary medicines, as defined in Item No. 14-E of the first Schedule and in relation to cosmetics and toilet preparations as defined in Item No. 14-F of that Schedule, includes the conversion of powder into tablets or capsules, the labeling or relabeling of containers intended for consumers and repacking from bulk packs to retail packs or the adoption of any other treatment to render the product marketable to the consumers;
(iv) In relation to goods comprised to Item No. 18-A of the First Schedule, includes sizing, beaming, warping, wrapping, winding or reeling, or any one or more of these processes, or the conversion of any form of the said goods into another form of such goods;
And the word "manufacturer" shall be construed accordingly and shall include not only a person who employs hired labour in the production or manufacture of excisable goods, but also any person who engages in their production or manufacture on his own account.
3. Duties specified in the First Schedule to be levied. (1) There shall be levied and collected in such manner as may be prescribed duties of excise on all excisable goods other than salt which are produced or manufactured in India and a duty on salt manufactured in, or imported by land into, any part of India as, and at the rates set forth in the First Schedule.
4. Valuation of excisable goods for purposes of charging of duty of excise.-
(1) Where under this Act, the duty of excise is chargeable on any excisable goods with reference to value, such value shall, subject to the other provisions of this section be deemed to be-
(a) the normal price thereof, that is to say, the price at which such goods are ordinarily sold by the Assessee to a buyer in the course of wholesale trade for delivery at the time and place of removal, where the buyer is not a related person and the price is the sole consideration for the sale:
(4) For the purposes of this section,-
(a) "Assessee" means the person who is liable to pay the duty of excise under this Act and includes his agent;
11. Recovery of sums due to Government.-In respect of duty and any other sums of any kind payable to the Central Government under any of the provisions of this Act or of the rules made thereunder, the officer empowered by the Central Board of Excise and Customs constituted under the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963, to levy such duty or require the payment of such sums may deduct the amount so payable from any money owing to the person from whom such sums may be recoverable or due which may be in his hands or under his disposal or control, or may recover the amount by attachment and sale of excisable goods belonging to such person; and if the amount payable is not so recovered he may prepare a certificate signed by him specifying the amount due from the person liable to pay the same and send it to the Collector of the district in which such person resides or conducts his business and the said Collector, on receipt of such certificate, shall proceed to...
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