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TMI Blog1989 (11) TMI 285X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s are licenced dealers having factories and manufacturing units at Panipat in the State of Haryana and consume sheep hair for manufacturing woollen fabrics and blankets. In order to carry on their trade they purchase sheep hair to get yarn manufactured out of it for being used in its turn for manufacturing woollen fabrics and blankets. The only question urged in these writ petitions is as to whether sheep hair was an agricultural produce within the meaning of the said term as defined under section 2(a) of the Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), so as to attract the provisions of the said Act to it. The term "agricultural produce" according to its definition contained under section 2(a) of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tionary of Scientific and Technical Terms-N.C. Craw-Hill. According to it, wool is a textile fibre made from raw wool characterised by absorbency, resiliency and insulation. It further states that wool is the soft undercoat of various animals such as sheep, angora, goat, camel, alpaca, ilama and vicuna. Having heard learned counsel for the parties, we are not inclined to agree with the submission made by learned counsel for the petitioners. Before dealing with the matter further it would be useful to notice at this place that item No. 41 of the Schedule after the word "wool" uses the word "oon" also within brackets which indicates as to what was really intended by the use of the word "wool". Indeed, in the Hindi version of the Act, item ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the trade by the dealer and the customer when goods are marketable. The same rule of interpretation was reiterated in Collector of Central Excise, Kanpur v. Krishna Carbon Paper Co. [1989] 72 STC 280 (SC); [1989] 1 SCC 150. It was held: "It is well-settled, as mentioned before, that where no definition is provided in the statute itself, as in this case, for ascertaining the correct meaning of a fiscal entry, reference to a dictionary is not always safe. The correct guide, it appears in such a case, is the context and the trade meaning......... The trade meaning is one which is prevalent in that particular trade where those goods are known or traded. If special type of goods is subject- matter of a fiscal entry, then that entry must be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ule to the Act keeping in view the nature and purpose of the enactment. Interpreting item No. 41 wool (oon) of the Schedule in this light, there seems to be no manner of doubt that the word "wool" has been used therein only in the sense in which the word "oon" is understood in the trade by the dealer and the consumer in the popular sense, namely, that which people conversant with the word "oon" would attribute to it. If anyone goes to the market to purchase wool (oon) he would be offered only sheep hair and not goat hair or camel hair or for the matter of that, the hair of any other animal. Indeed, there is intrinsic evidence in the Schedule itself of the fact that in the English version the word "wool" (oon) and in the Hindi version ,loon" ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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