BROOKE BOND INDIA LTD Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The same assessee, Brooke Bond India Limited is the revision petitioner in all these cases. A common question arises for consideration in these Tax Revision Cases. We deem it proper to dispose of these cases by a common judgment.

(2.) Revision petitioner is a registered dealer under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, for short, the Act. One of the major products manufactured by the petitioner is instant coffee-chicory blend prepared in the ratio of 70:30 and sold under the brand name 'Bru'. It is the case of the assessee that the process of manufacture involves mixing of coffee powder (70%) with chicory powder (30%) suspending the same in water, extracting the liquor and dehydrating the liquor by spray-drying process. The result is, the product obtained is a mixture of 70% coffee and 30% chicory in fine powder form. 'Bru' is a brand name adopted for marketing this product.

(3.) According to the assessee, the process of manufacture renders the coffee-chicory powder a refined form of coffee which leaves no sediment while coffee is made out of it. The further case of the assessee is that the product is popularly known in the market as 'Bru Coffee'.