Appeal against Bisleri dismissed

LEGAL DIGEST

The Supreme Court last week dismissed the appeal of the commissioner of central excise, Meerut, and ruled in favour of Bisleri International Pvt Ltd in an excise dispute.

The question involved was whether Bisleri had undervalued the aerated water by excluding two items, namely, the amounts received under credit notes as price support incentive and rent on containers from the assessable value.

The company maintained that these factors had no relation to the value of the aerated water. This view was accepted by Cegat and, on appeal by the commissioner, by the Supreme Court.

Bail in Gujarat co-op bank case

The Supreme Court last week granted bail to two persons accused of misappropriation of huge funds of Gujarat co-operative banks. The state government opposed bail arguing that the amounts payable were nearly Rs 100 crore.

However, the Bench headed by the Chief Justice stated that their retention in jail would be adverse to the interest of several investors/depositors of the bank. Their temporary release was likely to benefit the depositors.

"It is hoped that the petitioners (CR Patil and CE Patil) shall make a genuine effort, making use of their liberty to clear the debts," the order said.

"If they are found to have failed in discharging this obliga-tion or misusing their liberty in any way, the order of bail shall be liable to be recalled," the apex court added.

SC order in Harjeet Rice Mills case

The Supreme Court last week allowed the appeal of National Insurance Company and asked the Kashmir state consumer commission to reconsider the claim of Harjeet Rice Mills for loss of grains in its godown fire.

While the surveyor gave an estimate of the damage and the state commission granted the claim, the insurance company appointed its own surveyor who repudiated the claim.

The insurance company argued that the claim was a fraud and the godown could not hold the amount of goods claimed to have been lost.

The deputy superintendent of police also conducted a fresh inquiry and doubted the claim as the fire could have been started deliberately and not by a short circuit.

Moreover, it was not grains which were destroyed but only paddy husk. In view of these differing perspectives on the accident, the bench headed by the Chief Justice asked the state commission to examine the facts afresh before passing its order.

Compromise award is wage

Amounts paid to employees under the terms of a compromise award would still be "wages" and therefore the Employees State Insurance Corporation could demand contributions from them, the Supreme Court ruled last week in the ESI Corporation vs Gnanambigai Mills Ltd case.

The memorandum of compromise between the mill and its employees used the term ex gratia payment. When the corporation demanded ESI contribution from the company for these payments, the mills moved the Madras High Court challenging it.

The high court allowed its petition, ruling that the amounts could not be called wages according to the provisions of the Employees State Insurance Act. The corporation appealed to the Supreme Court.

"Merely because the parties in the compromise chose to term the payments ex gratia payments does not mean that those payments cease to be wages if they were otherwise wages. They were wages at the time that they were paid," the Supreme Court said.