UNITED OIL MILLS Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN the context of entry 44 of Schedule B of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 (as applicable to the State of Haryana), do de-oiled cakes fall within the nomenclature of oil-cakes ? Herein lies the controversy in this reference. The said entry 44 of Schedule B, as it originally stood, was merely "fertilizers". Later, by a notification, issued on January 18, 1972, the words "except oil-cakes" were added thereto. The matter here pertains to the assessment years 1967-68 and 1968-69. Messrs. United Oil Mills was engaged in the manufacture of solvent oil at Faridabad. The raw material purchased at Faridabad, by this firm consisted of oil-cakes; neem oil-cakes and rice bran cakes. After extraction of oil, the left over commodity, known as de-oiled cakes (whether de-oiled mehua, groundnut, neem or rice bran cakes) was sold by it locally as also in the course of inter-State commerce. The Assessing Authority held de-oiled rice bran cakes to be fodder and thus exempt from liability to pay tax, but rejected the plea that the other categories of de-oiled cakes were "fertilizers" or that they were a species apart from oil-cakes and they too were thus not amenable to tax. This view was upheld in appeal and later also by the Tribunal.

(2.) THIS is what provides the background for the question referred, which is in these terms :

(3.) SIMILARLY , again with regard to groundnut oil it was held by the Supreme Court in Commissioner of Sales Tax v. Prag Ice and Oil Mills [1991] 80 STC 403, that the residue of what is left after refining groundnut oil, in nature and character was, but groundnut oil with greater impurities. Quoted next was the instance where the Supreme Court in Commissioner of Sales Tax v. Jaswant Singh Charan Singh [1967] 19 STC 469, held charcoal in common parlance to be included in the term "coal". Mr. Ramesh Kumar, counsel for the assessee, on the other hand, contended and in our opinion rightly, that when the Legislature itself treats oil-cakes and de-oiled cakes as two different categories, no recourse can be had to the common parlance test, to say that de-oiled cakes fall within the ambit of the expression oil-cakes in entry 44 of Schedule B. Reference here being made to entry 27 of Schedule B of the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973, which reads :