SWEET O SOUR Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The common question raised in the connected revisions filed by the very same petitioner is whether the petitioner's product marketed under the brand name "golden mixture", which is otherwise known as namkeens is a food or vegetative preparation sold in air-tight containers attracting sales tax at 12.5 per cent under entry 56 of the First Schedule to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963. Counsel appearing for the petitioner produced packing cover of the product, which shows that it is a product manufactured by Haldiram's, who are probably market leaders of the product. While the brand name of the product is "fresh and tasty golden mixture", the cover contains a description of the product as namkeens, a tasty treat, the cereal-based crispy snacks, machine-packed for freshness, the hand-picked spices. The packing cover is a double layer material with inside plastic and outside alumnium foil. Admittedly the product is sealed air-tight on either side and has colour print over it to make the pack look very attractive. The case of the petitioner is that the product is neither a food preparation nor is it packed in air-tight containers. In order to consider the case of the petitioner, we have to necessarily refer to the relevant entry, entry 56 available in the First Schedule to the statute at the relevant time. Therefore we extract the said entry below: <p>___________________________________________________________________________________ |56 |Food including vegetative or animal | At the point of first | | | |preparations sold in air-tight containers| sale in the State by a | | | |and food colours, essences of all kinds | dealer who is liable | 12.5%| | |and powders or tablets used for making | to tax under Section 5 | | | |food preparations. | | | ___________________________________________________________________________________

(2.) The first question to be considered is whether the item sold is food including vegetative or animal preparation. As already stated, the product is a vegetative preparation made of moth and channa flour, potato, edible oil, edible salt, spices and pulses. It is clear from the product description given in the packet that it is a fried crispy mixture and the product can be taken as a snack item. In fact, it is further stated that the manufacturer is a member of the Snack Food Association, Virginia, U.S.A.

(3.) According to counsel for the petitioner, snacks of the kind marketed by petitioner are not food. We are unable to accept this contention, because the meaning of food in Webster's International Dictionary is as follows: