1960 (3) TMI 42

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..... to be calculated at the rate applicable to edible oils or at the rate applicable to non-edible oils in view of the notification referred to in the question. The Sales Tax Officer who first made the assessment held that linseed oil is a non-edible oil. The Judge (Appeals) Sales Tax came to the view that linseed oil is edible oil and for this purpose he relied mainly on the Report on the Marketing of Linseed in India, 1938 Edition, published by the Manager of Publications, Delhi. The Judge (Revisions) disagreed with the Judge (Appeals) Sales Tax and held that linseed oil is nonedible oil. In giving his decision in the various revision applications that were before him he did not fully put down his reasons but referred to the reasons which wer .....

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..... e, if this criterion was to be applied in every case to decide whether an article is edible or not, numerous articles which no one can doubt are edible would have to be held to be non-edible. There are articles of food which are highly priced, as for example the pistachios and because of their high price, the majority of the residents of this State cannot find it possible to purchase pistachios, and consequently, pistachios are not commonly used in this State. Even learned counsel for the Commissioner of Sales Tax had to admit that an article like pistachios could not possibly be used by more than one resident out of one thousand in this State. If used by so few persons, it cannot be said to be an article commonly used and on the interpreta .....

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..... as food was clearly edible oil. In this connection we may also refer to the remarks of a Division Bench of this Court in State v. Bal Makund[1954] A.I.R. 1954 All. 97., where a question arose as to whether linseed oil was an article of food under section 4 of the U.P. Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 6 of 1926 and it was held that linseed oil was an article of food. It may be noticed that in that case also the question whether linseed oil was an article of food arose when interpreting a provision of an Act which was applicable only locally in the State of Uttar Pradesh. That decision also thus supports the view taken by us. As a result we answer the question referred to us in the affirmative. The dealers in each of the references shall .....

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