MARYKUTTY JOSEPH Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS revision raises a short question, which is to be basically answered on the basis of application of commonsense of understanding, if not, application of the dictionary meaning.

(2.) WITH regard to the final assessment completed under the provisions of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, for the assessment year 1989-90, the petitioner-assessee preferred appeal dispute regarding the rate of tax applicable to three items - T. Y. stand, fridge stand and its top -contending that these are items of furniture and therefore, taxable at the point of first sale in the State. It cannot be disputed that these three items could not be understood separately. T. V. stand by itself has no independent existence. Similarly fridge stand and its top also cannot be understood by themselves. They are to be considered as accessories of the two items - T. V. and fridge and therefore the authorities held these items as general items taxable at multi-point at 5 per cent.

(3.) THE learned counsel brought to our notice the decision of this Court. [1974] 33 STC 308 (Ker.) (Deputy commissioner of Agricultural Income-tax and Sales Tax v. E. V. Industries, angamaly), We have gone through the said decision where Item No. 17 in the first Schedule to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, then applicable, refers to the words "furniture made of iron and steel" in regard to which it is held that these words must be read with safes and almarahs made of iron and steel and in the context in which those words occurred, it is held that there is no justification for giving any limited meaning to those words in the context of the dispute therein that these items could not be held as limited to house hold furniture alone and would have to be understood to include hospital equipments satisfying similar description.- THE Court found the words in regard there to referred to above as not sufficiently clear.