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TMI Blog1996 (8) TMI 185X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ice dated 13-3-1987 the appellants before us were called upon to show cause as to why a duty of Rs. 2,46,610.50/- should not be demanded from them towards cess on rice bran oil produced by them. Appellants contested the demand before the Assistant Collector. The Assistant Collector rejected their contentions and confirmed the demand. In the impugned order, Collector (Appeals) concurred with the findings of the Assistant Collector. Hence this appeal. 3. Appellants contend that rice bran oil is not a vegetable oil assessable to cess under the Vegetable Oils Cess Act, 1983 for the following reasons : (a) Rice bran oil is extracted by solvent extraction process from rice bran; (b) Rice bran oil so extracted is not fit for human consumptio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aterial of plant kingdom it is not a synthetic product and therefore it cannot be called goods of industrial origin and therefore has to come within the definition of vegetable oil for purposes of cess under the aforesaid Act. 5. We have considered the rival contentions. We find that the issue whether rice bran oil is a vegetable oil for purposes of levy of cess under the Vegetable Oils Cess Act, 1983 was examined in detail by the Allahabad High Court in its decision referred to above. The relevant portion of the Hon ble High Court judgment is extracted below : The question is whether the petitioners who extracted oil from rice bran could be suspected to cess under Section 3 of the Vegetable Oils Cess Act, 1983. Levy under Section 3 of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . In Ram Avtar Badri v. Assistant Sales Tax Officer [XIII S.T.C. (S.C.) p 286] the Hon ble Supreme Court approved the decision of Madhya Pradesh High Court that the word vegetable in a fiscal statute could not given the meaning the term bears in natural history. It should be as commonly understood. It is thus obvious that rice bran cannot be included in the word vegetable either in dictionary meaning or popular, common or commercial sense. It cannot, however, be disputed that it is open to the Legislature to give an artificial meaning to a word. Therefore, if oil extracted from rice bran can be included in the word vegetable oil as defined in the Act the petitioner cannot escape liability of paying cess. Vegetable oil has been defined in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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