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TMI Blog1967 (8) TMI 107X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a seed yielding oil, and groundnut is a small farinaceous edible tuber of the wild beans. So it is said that while an oil-seed is a seed, a groundnut is a species of beans. Counsel has also referred us to certain decisions in support of his argument. In The State of Andhra Pradesh v. Kajjam Ramachandraiah[1961] 12 S.T.C. 795., the Andhra Pradesh High Court has held that coriander, voma and sompu are not oil-seeds. We are not concerned with these things in this case, but certain observations are noteworthy. The Court said: "The important question, to our mind, is not whether oil can be extracted from these seeds, but whether they are known in this country in common parlance to be oil-seeds within the contemplation of the Legislature." Th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed for extraction of oil." It was further said: "The test is not whether oil can be extracted from a fruit or seed, but it is whether in common parlance the article is known as 'oil-seed' used principally for the extraction of oil. Judged by this test, it is difficult to hold that coconuts, groundnuts and jira fall within the meaning of the term 'oil-seeds......... In The Central India Spinning and Weaving and Manufacturing Company Limited v. The Municipal Committee, WardhaA.I.R. 1958 S.C. 341., it was held that betel leaves are not "vegetables". It was said there that where the words of a statute are susceptible of two interpretations, then the interpretation which favours the citizen should be preferred to the interpretation which imp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ble of developing into another coconut plant. That being so, it is clear that a coconut is a seed and since oil can be extracted from a coconut, it is an oil-seed within the meaning of that expression occurring in section 14(vi) of the Central Sales Tax Act." In Sales Tax Officer, Kozhikode v. K.V. Moosa Koya[1966] 18 S.T.C. 464., the Kerala High Court held that copra is an oil-seed within the meaning of that expression under section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act. The Court followed the decision of the Mysore High Court. In The Commissioner of Sales Tax, Madhya Pradesh v. Mls. Jaswant Singh Charan Singh (Civil Appeal No. 2011 of 1966 decided on February 23, 1967(2) the Supreme Court held that charcoal is "coal" within the meaning of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ction would be made between coal and charcoal; otherwise, both of them would in ordinary parlance as also in their commercial sense be spoken as coal." In His Majesty the King v. Planters Nut and Chocolate Company Limited(3), Cameron, J., said: "The object of the Excise Tax Act is to raise revenue, and for this purpose, to class substances according to the general usage and known denominations of trade. In my view, therefore, it is not the botanist's conception as to what constitutes a 'fruit' or 'vegetable' which must govern the interpretation to be placed on the words, but rather what would ordinarily in matters of commerce in Canada be included therein. Botanically, oranges and lemons are berries, but otherwise no one would consider ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... appear that men of business in our country regard groundnut as an oil-seed. Oil is extracted from groundnut on a commercial scale in our country. Groundnut oil is edible oil. If this oil is produced from seed, then groundnut will surely be an oil-seed, According to the definition of the word "seed" noticed in the decision of the Mysore High Court, groundnut will be an oil-seed. The English version of the notification issued by the State Government uses the word "oil-seed". The original of the notification, which is in Hindi, uses the word "tilhan". The Shabdsagar, a Hindi dictionary published by the Kashi Nagari Pracharni Sabha, Varanasi, gives the following definition of the word "tilhan". "Fasal ke roop men boye jane wale paudhe linke ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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