Whirlpool
Of India Ltd Bangalore Vs. The Deputy Commissioner of
Commercial Taxes, Bangalore [2006] Insc 838 (22 November 2006)
S.
B. Sinha & Markandey Katju
J U DG
M E N T (Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 15138/2004)
MARKANDEY KATJU, J.
Leave
granted.
This
appeal has been file against the judgment of a Division Bench of the Karnataka
High Court dated 20.1.2004 in STA No.70 of 2003, by which the appeal was
dismissed.
Heard
learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.
The
appellant is a registered dealer under the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957
("KST Act" for short). The appellant is the Licensee and registered
user of the trade mark "Whirlpool" in terms of the Trade Mark &
Trade Name Licence Agreement dated 24.2.1995 executed between M/s.
Whirlpool
Corporation, USA, which is stated to be the
proprietor and owner of the said trade mark and the Appellant. The licence
granted to the appellant to use the trade mark is non-transferable.
On
4.2.2003, the appellant entered into an agreement with M/s. Applicomp India
Limited (for short "Applicomp" or the "Manufacturer") under
which Applicomp agreed to manufacture and supply electronic products and
electrical appliances such as Refrigerators, Washing Machines, Air Conditioner,
etc., to the appellant on Original Equipment Manufacture basis, as per the
specifications of the appellant. Relevant portions of clauses 4, 5 and 6 of the
agreement are extracted below :
"The
manufacturer is exempted from payment of Sales Tax for the goods manufactured
at its factory at Hosur
Road, Attibele..
4. The
buyer hereby warrants that the Buyer is the owner of all rights in the trade
mark "Whirlpool" and has the exclusive right to use the said trade
mark in India.
Buyer
hereby authorizes the manufacturer to use and affix the said trade mark to the
products which are sold to the buyer in accordance with the specifications of
the Buyer.
5.
Manufacturer acknowledges that this agreement does not include any license of
buyer's trade marks.
Manufacturer
shall not affix trade mark to any products manufactured and/or sold to any
third party other than that to the party of the second part in respect of the
manufactured products.
6.
Buyer has the right to inspect samples of the products to verify that the use
of the trade mark conforms to buyer's specifications and also inspect/audit the
quality of the products manufactured" Applicomp is neither a registered
user nor a licensee in respect of the trade mark "Whirlpool". The
agreement just enables Applicomp to affix the trade mark of the appellant to
the products which are manufactured by it to the specifications of the
appellant, and which are exclusively to be supplied to the appellant, and not
to any other product of Applicomp.
The
State Government, by notification dated 20.7.2000 issued in exercise of power
under Section 19C of the KST Act, exempted the tax payable under the said Act
by Applicomp on the sale of furnished goods manufactured by it, for a period of
10 years from the commencement of commercial production subject to the
restrictions and conditions stated in the said notification. Hence the sales by
Applicomp to appellant are exempt from payment of any tax under the KST Act.
Section
5(3)(a) of the KST Act provides that tax shall be levied under the Act "in
the case of sale of any of the goods mentioned in column (2) of the Second
Schedule, by the first or the earliest of successive dealers in the State who
is liable to tax under that Section, a tax at the rate specified in the
corresponding entry of column (3) of the said Schedule, on the taxable turn
over of sales of such dealer in each year relating to such goods."
Refrigerators fall under Entry (6) of Part-R of the Second Schedule, the rate
of tax being 20% from 1.4.2002, and washing machines as Electrical Goods, falls
under Entry-2(V) of Part-E of the Second Schedule, the rate of tax being 16%
from 1.6.2003. The third proviso and the sixth proviso to Section 5(3) as also
Explanation III thereto, which are relevant to this case are extracted below :
"Third
Proviso to Section 5(3)(a) Provided further that where any goods liable to tax
under this Act are produced or manufactured by a dealer with the brand name or
trade mark of any other dealer and which are not used by the latter as raw
materials, component parts or packing materials, as defined under the
explanation to Section 5- A, the sale of such goods by the dealer who has
produced or manufactured to the dealer who is the brand name or trade mark
holder, shall not be deemed to be, but the subsequent sale of such goods by the
dealer having the right either as proprietor or otherwise to use the said name
or the trade mark, either directly or through another, on his own account or on
account of others shall be deemed to be the sale by the first dealer liable to
tax under this Section.
Illustration
- `A' has registered a trade mark for manufacture of certain goods. He gets the
said goods manufactured by `B' under the said trade mark. The sale by `B' to
`A' of the said goods is not the first sale but the sale by `A' or by any other
person on his account is the first sale.
Sixth
Proviso to Section 5(3)(a) Provided also that where goods are sold, under a
brand name by the trade mark holder or the brand name holder or any other
dealer having the right as proprietor or otherwise to use the said name or
trade mark either directly or through another on his own account or on account
of others, exclusively to a marketing agent or distributor or wholeseller or
any other dealer, subsequent sale of such goods by the latter shall also be
liable to tax under this Section and the tax so payable shall be reduced by the
amount of tax already paid on the sale of such goods by the former.
Explanation
III For the
purpose of the sixth proviso to clause (a), where goods are sold under a brand
name by the trade mark holder or the brand name holder or any other dealer
having the right as proprietor or otherwise to use the said name or trade mark
either directly or through another on his own account or on account of others,
who is exempt from tax by any notification issued under Section 8-A or Section
19-C, the expression "tax already paid" means the tax payable under
this Section on such sale if the sale had been effected by any other
dealer." It was submitted by Shri Harish Salve, learned senior counsel for
the appellant, that the transaction between the Applicomp and the appellant
falls under the Sixth Proviso read with Explanation III to the Section 5(3)(a),
whereas the learned counsel for the revenue submitted that the transaction is
squarely covered by the Third Proviso. In view of this difference in the stands
taken by the appellant and the respondent, the appellant filed an application
for confirmation of its view before the Authority for Clarifications and Advance
Rulings under Section 4 of the Act by posing the following question :
"Whether
the brand owner who is an exclusive purchaser of goods manufactured, using its
brand name, by a manufacturer who is exempted under Section 8A or 19C is
entitled to claim set off on the deemed tax paid on the purchases made from
such manufacturer and is required to pay tax under Section 5(3)(a), only on the
value addition thereof." The Authority by its order dated 27.10.2003 has
given its clarification holding that the transactions between Applicomp and the
appellant are governed by the Third Proviso to Section 5(3)(a) and not by the
Sixth Proviso and Explanation III to that Section.
Aggrieved,
the appellant filed an appeal to the High Court, which was dismissed and hence
this appeal.
In our
opinion, there is no merit in this appeal and we agree with the view taken by
the High Court.
Learned
counsel for the appellant submitted that by virtue of the Sixth Proviso read
with Explanation III under Section 5(3)(a) of the Act, credit has to be given
to the appellant in respect of sales tax that would have been paid by Applicomp
in respect of the branded goods sold by it to the appellant. It is submitted
that Applicomp as a matter of fact has not paid the sales tax as it is exempt from
such payment.
In our
opinion this argument is clearly untenable. In our opinion it is the Third
Proviso and not the Sixth Proviso which applies in this case because the goods
are manufactured by the dealer (Applicomp) using the branded name of another
dealer (appellant). These goods are not used as raw materials, components or
packing materials. Hence the sale by Applicomp to the appellant cannot be
deemed to be the sale by the first dealer liable to tax under this Section, but
it is the subsequent sale of such goods by the dealer having the right either
as proprietor or otherwise (appellant) which has to be deemed to be the first
sale liable to tax under this Section. This submission is further supported by
the illustration to the Sixth Proviso which states :
"Illustration
- `A' has registered a trade mark for manufacture of certain goods. He gets the
said goods manufactured by `B' under the said trade mark. The sale by `B' to
`A' of the said goods is not the first sale but the sale by `A' or by any other
person on his account is the first sale." Applying the above illustration
to the facts of the present case, `A' would be the appellant and `B' would be Applicomp.
The incidence of tax on the first sale would be on the appellant and not on Applicomp.
Moreover,
a reading of clauses 4 and 5 of the agreement dated 4.2.2003 between the
appellant and Applicomp makes it clear that Applicomp is neither a registered
user nor a licensee of the trade mark. Thus it is not selling the goods as
either a trade mark holder or as one having any rights as the proprietor of the
trade mark or otherwise. Hence the Sixth Proviso clearly does not apply and any
sale by Applicomp to the appellant does not give the benefit of any reduction
in tax to the appellant.
In the
present case, the appellant is the owner of the brand name `Whirlpool'
registered under the Trade and Merchandise Act, 1958. Under the agreement
between the parties, the refrigerators and other consumer goods are got
manufactured by M/s. Applicomp India Ltd. and as per the agreement M/s. Applicomp
have to manufacture the products under the brand name `Whirlpool' and sell them
exclusively to the appellant. M/s. Applicomp is not the registered user of the
brand name `Whirlpool'.
Moreover,
the sales made by M/s. Applicomp to the appellant, are not sales to the
exclusive marketing agent or distributor or wholeseller or any other dealer but
are only sales of manufactured branded goods to the brand owner.
Hence
in our opinion the Sixth Proviso and Explanation III to Section 5(3)(a) is
clearly not applicable.
Thus,
there is no force in this appeal. The appeal is accordingly dismissed. There
shall be no order as to costs.
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