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TMI Blog1993 (4) TMI 286X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sed articles were consumed in the manufacture of tamarind seeds which are sold by the petitioner and therefore, purchase tax was leviable under section 6 of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957 ("the Act" for short). The articles allegedly produced by the petitioner is referred as tamarind white pappu and white powder, from black tamarind seeds. The short question is, whether there was any manufacturing activity at all and if so, certainly section 6 of the Act would be attracted. 2.. Learned counsel for the petitioner contended that dehusking of tamarind seeds into taramind pappu does not result in the manufacture of any other product and any by-product. The purpose of the tamarind seed and that of the tamarind pappu is to provide starch. Qu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... process of manufacture, and the result must be the manufacture of other goods. There are several criteria for determining whether a commodity is consumed in the manufacture of another. The generally prevalent test is whether the article produced is regarded in the trade, by those who deal in it, as distinct in identity from the commodity involved in its manufacture. Commonly, manufacture is the end result of one or more processes through which the original commodity is made to pass. The nature and extent of processing may vary from one case to another, and indeed there may be several stages of processing and perhaps a different kind of processing at each stage. With each process suffered, the original commodity experiences a change. But it ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ufacturing process and that powdered turmeric is only a changed form of turmeric purchased by the assessee. The test was again reiterated in State of Orissa v. Titaghur Paper Mills Co. Ltd. [1985] 60 STC 213. The Supreme Court observed: "The question in both those cases was whether sawing of planks and chopping of timber into firewood amounted to manufacture so as to make the assessee liable to pay sales tax on the manufactured goods. This is a different question from that to which we have to address ourselves. We may, however, point out that even where the question is whether a certain process has resulted in a manufacture, the resultant product must be a different commercial commodity and merely because certain articles are known by dif ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... but a change in the form. 9.. Learned Government Advocate then relied on the decision of the Supreme Court in State of Karnataka v. Raghurama Shetty [1981] 47 STC 369 wherein it was held that rice was a distinct commodity from paddy and that the dehusking of paddy into rice involved manufacturing process and the situation attracts the provisions of section 6 of the Act. 10.. Only because dehusking is involved in the case of paddy when rice is brought out, we cannot apply the said decision to the case of tamarind seeds. It is the quality of the article in question that should be seen. The paddy as an article of commerce, has several utilities apart from its being the basis for producing rice. We may also refer to the fact that rice bran ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... th are identical and dehusking is only a convenient mode, obviously to give a better colour to the starch produced out of the seeds. A mere change of form, as the Supreme Court held, cannot alter the character of the article. We may also point out that in Titaghur Paper Mills case [1985] 60 STC 213 (SC), the earlier decision of the Supreme Court in Ganesh Trading Co. case [1973] 32 STC 623 was distinguished at page 264. 12.. It was then pointed out by the learned Government Advocate that the petitioner has been producing powder out of the tamarind seeds and this would certainly result in manufacturing the powder from the seeds. Learned counsel for the petitioner disputes this factual aspect of the case. This is normally, a matter for the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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