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TMI Blog1954 (8) TMI 20X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Sales Tax, Kottayam, Appeal No. 93 of 1951-52, and the Assistant Commissioner by his order dated 1st October, 1951, accepted the petitioner's contention and held that the sales cannot be considered as liable to sales tax. The Deputy Commis- sioner of Agricultural Income Tax and Sales Tax, Trivandrum, however, took the matter in revision, set aside the decision of the Assistant Com- missioner, and confirmed the order of assessment made by the Rural Sales Tax Officer, Peermade. The order of the Deputy Commissioner, D. Dis. 3493/52, dated 18th November, 1952, reads as follows: "The learned advocate who appeared on behalf of the petitioner sub- mits that the turnover of green leaf of tea is not liable to sales tax. He adds that the green leaf o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the assessment order passed by the Agricul- tural Income-tax and Rural Sales Tax Officer, Peermade, dated 6th August, 1951, assessing the petitioner on a turnover of Rs. 8,164-14-0 for the last quarter of 1124 allowed to stand. Ordered accordingly." 3.. The Sales Tax Act under which the assessment was made is the Travancore General Sales Tax Act, XVIII of 1124. Section 3 of that Act provides that subject to the provisions of the Act: "(a) every dealer shall pay for each year a tax on his total turn- over for such year; and (b) the tax shall be calculated at the rate of three pies for every Indian rupee in such turnover." The definition of the term "turnover" as given in Section 2(j) of the Act is: "'turnover' means the aggregate amount fo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... olling and drying in the case of green tea. Green tea is not manufactured in this State and black tea with its four principal grades based largely on the size of the leaf-orange pekoe, pekoe, pekoe souchong and souchong in the descending order of quality- forms by far the greater part of the teas sold in the markets of the world. 5.. I do not think that there is any substance in the contention urged by the petitioner. The word "tea", like so many other words, has to be understood with reference to the context in which it is used. When Pepys recorded in an oft quoted passage in 1660 "I did send for a cup of tee, a China drink of which I never had drunk before" he must have certainly meant the infusion and not the leaf; and when Wickham wro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e First Schedule and item 14 of the First Schedule is "tea" which is therein defined as follows: " 'Tea' means the commodity known as tea made from the leaves of the plant carmellia (Lim) and includes green tea." 7.. As pointed out by the Privy Council in Governor-General in Council v. Province of Madras(2) (endorsing the reasoning and conclusion of the Federal Court in Central Provinces and Berar Sales of Motor Spirit and Lubricants Taxation Act, 1938, In re(3)) a duty of excise is primarily a duty levied upon a manufacturer or producer in respect of the com- modity manufactured or produced a tax upon goods and not, as in the case of a sales tax, a tax upon sales or the proceeds of such sales and froms a distinct and separate impost in l ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... text in which it appears but, for example, in a list of items sold in the wholesale or retail markets, different con- siderations might have applied. The rule of interpretation in such cases will be the well recognized rule that the particular words used by the Legislature in the denomination of articles should be understood accord- ing to the common commercial understanding of the term used, and not in their scientific or technical sense, "for the Legislature does not suppose our merchants to be naturalists, or geologists, or botanists". (200 Chests of Tea, (1824) 9 Wheaton 435). In His Majesty the King v. Planters Nut and Chocolate Company Ltd.(1), the question as to whether salted peanuts and cashewnuts fell within the category of "fruit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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