9911796707
TMI Blog1993 (9) TMI 334X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 45/93 August, 1989 STR No. 746/93 November, 1989 STR No. 747/93 June, 1989 STR No. 748/93 October, 1989 STR No. 749/93 April, 1989 STR No. 750/93 July, 1989 The dealer had not paid any tax on the turnover pertaining to the sale of the said coconuts hereinafter described as watery coconuts. It seems that the dealer's contention was that this type of coconuts came within the category of fresh fruits and vegetable that were not liable to tax under the U.P. Sales Tax Act. This contention was negatived by the assessing officer and he taxed the turnover treating the watery coconuts as unclassified item. Provisional assessments were, therefore, made for the months referred to above. The dealer preferred appeals to the Assistant Commissioner (Judicial) but failed. The dealer then preferred second appeals before the Sales Tax Tribunal which by the order referred to above has dismissed all the eight appeals upholding the view taken by the authorities below that coconut was not a fresh fruit or vegetable and was taxable as an unclassified item. In the present revision petitions, the only ques ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed from the definition of "coconuts". The learned counsel for the revisionist placed reliance on Sri Krishna Coconut Co. v. Commercial Tax Officer [1965] 16 STC 511 in which the honourable Andhra Pradesh High Court had to deal with the meaning of "tender coconuts" as used in the Third Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act. Item No. 5 in the said Schedule reads as follows: "The expression 'coconut' in this Schedule means fresh or dried coconuts, shelled or unshelled including copra, but excluding tender coconuts." The honourable High Court observed: ".............The question is whether there is a category of coconuts not covered by the description of either tender or dried. I think the answer must be in the affirmative. In a tender coconut, the kernel is hardly formed or is only in the initial stages of formation. In a dried coconut the kernel has formed and fully developed and further the water inside the coconut has dried up leading to the drying of the kernel also. But a fully grown coconut with a well developed kernel which contains water cannot be called either a tender or a dried coconut. This is the well-known variety of coconuts used for culinary purpos ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... depended on the yield of oil of the type mentioned in the definition of "oil-seeds". The definition substituted from April 1, 1973, recognises 20 items as oil-seeds and coconut has been included at serial No. (viii). Now it is not open to any one to say that a particular thing does not yield oil and, therefore, it will not be an oil-seed or that a particular thing is not a seed and is, therefore, not an oil-seed. For example a tender coconut if had not been excluded from the scope of coconut in item No. (viii) would have had to be treated as a coconut oil-seed although it may not have yielded any oil. The definition as contained in section 14(vi)(viii) treats coconut as an "oil-seed" and excludes from its scope only tender coconut. What is important in Tagoob Mohammad's case [1971] 28 STC 110 (AP) is that as far back as October 10, 1969, when this judgment was pronounced, it was judicially recognised that watery coconuts are oil-seeds and what is important to remember is that while drafting the present definition of "oil-seeds" the Legislature excluded from the scope of coconut only tender coconut and had not excluded watery coconuts. It is also important to notice that even pri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 1973. As already stated there are views to the contrary and even the honourable Supreme Court has held that watery coconut is a distinct variety of coconut. Coconut is now an oil-seed as defined in section 14(vi)(viii) and in view of that definition every coconut excluding tender coconut, is an oil-seed irrespective of whether it is capable of yielding oil or not. Reliance was also placed on Sri Siddhi Vinayaka Coconut Co. [1974] 34 STC 103 (SC) which as discussed above supports the case of the dealer and not that of Revenue. It was contended that the Legislature has further clarified the meaning of coconut by using a Malayalam synonym, i.e., copra which means dried coconut only. In my view the word copra has not been used by the Legislature as to mean dried coconut only. Had it been so there was no need for the Legislature to clarify that tender coconuts are excluded from the purview of the copra because that was totally unnecessary. From the manner in which the entry at serial No. (viii) in section 14(vi) has been drafted it is clear that the word copra has been used as a synonym for coconut and not to describe only a particular variety thereof. Reliance was also placed by t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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