9911796707
TMI Blog1960 (7) TMI 51X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Commercial Tax Officer, Narasaraopet, determined the net turnover for the purpose of assessment at Rs. 51,875-7-6. The petitioner is a manufacturer of and dealer in castor oil. The petitioner-firm purchases castor seeds and presses them into castor oil. It is alleged that the firm did exclusive business in such produce, during the assessment year and it claimed, therefore, exemption, in accordance with the terms of Notification II of G.O. No. 1091 Revenue dated 10th June, 1957. The assessing authority found that upto 30th August, 1957, the petitioner manufactured oil on double presses and it was only from 31st August, 1957, that there was a change over to single press. On that finding he held that for a period covered by 15th June, 1957, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 (Andhra Pradesh Act VI of 1957) the Governor of Andhra Pradesh hereby directs that every person owning or having an interest in single country oil ghani or hand oil press, wherein oil is produced without employing electricity or any other power at any stage of the conversion of the seed into oil, and dealing exclusively in the produce of such ghanis and presses, shall be exempt from payment of any tax under the said Act in respect of such dealings." As is manifest from the above provision, in order that an assessee can claim the benefit of exemption three conditions have to be fulfilled: (1) that the assessee should own a single country oil ghani; (ii) that the oil should be produced without em ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rule supports the contentions of the petitioner-firm, it cannot get any relief from this Court. It is argued that the last limb in the Notification, namely "shall be exempt from payment of any tax under the said Act in respect of such dealings", means and can only mean that if the assessee satisfies the three conditions laid down in the body of the provision, he cannot be made liable to any tax under the Act. Under the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, the tax can be levied on the sale or purchase of goods. The castor oil is subject to tax at the sale point. The castor seeds are liable to tax according to Schedule IV at the 1st point of purchase in the State. It is the case of the petitioner that under the G.O. aforesaid the producer ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oduced. I do not think that such a limited construction can be put upon the expressions employed in the rule. While construing any provisions of exemption from taxation strictly, one should not lose sight of the actual language employed in the rule and also the purpose for which it has been made. The expression "dealings" is, in my view, capable and comprehensive enough to take in, not merely the sale of the castor oil and like products, but also the purchase of the castor seeds without which it is obvious oil cannot be extracted. There is no warrant, therefore, in my view, for holding that the exemption refers only to the tax on sale of castor oil and not to the tax on the purchase value of the castor seeds. It seems to me that this is a c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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