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TMI Blog1977 (3) TMI 147X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... list of goods other than luxury goods framed under the Orissa Sales Tax Act or they will be treated as unclassified goods?" 3.. The assessee-petitioner is a registered dealer and carries on business in glass bangles at Sambalpur town. His gross turnover of sales for the years 1968-69 and 1969-70 is not in controversy. Tax, however, was imposed on the sale of glass bangles for these two years at the rate of 7 per cent as specified goods under entry No. 38 against his claim that the sales should be taxed at the rate of 5 per cent as unclassified goods. Accordingly, there was an excess demand of tax of Rs. 1,839.47 and Rs. 2,053.05 for the assessment years 1968-69 and 1969-70 respectively by the Sales Tax Officer. The assessee was unsuccess ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aimed by the assessee. 5.. The first principle of construction is that if the provision of a statute is found to be unambiguous it must be construed literally. In construing a fiscal statute and in determining the liability of a subject to tax, one must have regard to the strict letter of the law and not merely to the spirit of the statute or the substance of the law. If a case is not covered within the four corners of the provisions of the taxing statute, no tax can be imposed by inference or by analogy or by trying to probe into the intentions of the legislature and by considering what was the substance of the matter. In case of a reasonable doubt, the construction most beneficial to the subject is to be entertained. Even so, as already ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of tax has been fixed. Both the notifications came into effect on 1st May, 1976. Entry No. 1 of the schedule of tax-free goods refers to bangles and provides that when the cost of the bangle is less than one rupee per pair, it will be tax-free. Entry No. 39 of the schedule of specified taxable goods of the other notification which is identical with entry No. 38 in question provides for a revised rate of tax of 10 per cent. Comparing entry No. 1 with entry No. 39 he argues that if bangle is treated as coming within entry No. 39, when all types and varieties of bangles, irrespective of their cost, would come within that entry. If so, it would run contrary to entry No. 1. As there will, thus, be a direct conflict between entry No. 39 of the s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... result. The language of entry No. 38 indicates that bottles, lamps and lantern chimneys made of glass would be glassware if they were not excepted expressly therefrom. Obviously, bottles, lamps and lantern chimneys even according to common parlance theory cannot be considered as utensils, the restricted meaning attributed to glassware in the dictionary. This would indicate the legislative intent that "glassware" is to be understood in its widest sense and not in its restricted sense. If it had been otherwise, there would have been no necessity of expressly excluding bottles, lamps and lantern chimneys from the purview of "glassware". Merely because bangles are manufactured only by a special class of people at Ahmedabad and U.P., even if ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nd lantern chimneys". Their Lordships held that the expression "glassware" was wide enough to include all articles made of glass. They further added: "If there was any doubt whatsoever about the matter it must now be deemed to have been removed by the addition of the words 'excepting bottles and lamp and lantern chimneys' in entry No. 15". In the case of Commissioner of Sales Tax, U.P. v. Manohar Glass Works[1971] 27 S.T.C. 51., entry No. 10 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act was being construed. This entry ran as "glassware other than hurricane lantern chimneys, optical lenses and bottles". Their Lordships were considering the question whether glass tubes and glass rods manufactured and sold by the assessee came within this entry and held that, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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