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TMI Blog2007 (5) TMI 575X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uot;Amul Tazza Milk" which according to it is only "pasteurised milk" coming under entry 23 of the Third Schedule to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963. The assessing authority while concluding the assessment for the assessment year 2000-01 has levied the tax at 12 per cent treating "Amul Tazza Milk" as a milk product as such an item falling under entry 92 of the First Schedule to the Act. The assessee being aggrieved by the said finding and conclusion reached by the assessing authority had approached the higher forum by filing an appeal. The appellate authority has concurred with the findings and conclusion reached by the assessing authority. Thereafter the assessee has carried the matter by way of second appe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hat view of the matter, it is not necessary for us to go into the meaning of the item in commercial parlance and common parlance and the functional character of the item." Aggrieved by the aforesaid order passed by the Tribunal, the assessee has come before us in this revision petition. The question of law raised for our consideration and decision is whether the Tribunal is justified in classifying "Amul Tazza Milk" as not pasteurised milk after admitting that the process adopted by the assessee is only pasteurisation? Learned counsel for the revision petitioner would submit that the "Tazza milk" sold by the assessee would fall under entry 23 of the Third Schedule to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 ("t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g under the Third Schedule are exempted under section 9 of the Act. According to the assessing authority "Amul Tazza Milk" is a milk product. Therefore, the first question that requires to be answered is what is a milk product. In our view, when milk is processed a commodity which is entirely different from milk and which cannot be identified as such may be obtained and the commodity so obtained can be described as a "milk product". Its composition and use will be basically different from that of the milk obtained in the natural form. In the alternative, it can be said, whenever a commodity is subjected to a process and some change is brought about in its constitution, it can be said that the resultant commodity is the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed and properly operated equipment and immediately cooling to 5ºC and it renders the milk safe for human consumption by destruction of all spoilage organisms. The method of pasteurisation adopted by the petitioner is ultra high temperature pasteurisation. It also keeps the milk for long duration when compared to fresh milk. Pasteurisation refers to the process of heating every particle of milk to at least 63ºC for 15 seconds in approved and properly operated equipment. After pasteurisation the milk is immediately cooled to 5ºC or below. The process of heating, holding and rapid cooling called pasteurisation (named after Louis Pasteur, the french scientist) ensures that the bacteria is destroyed. This mild form of heat treatm ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eeping in view the dictionary meaning of the expression "pasteurisation" and also how the product is understood in common parlance, let us get back to the entries under the Act. Entry 92 of the First Schedule to the Act speaks of milk product including milk powder, baby food, ghee, cheese, etc. Milk product means a product which is not used as milk. When milk is processed a commodity which is entirely different from milk and which cannot be identified as such may be obtained and the commodity so obtained can be called as milk product. Its composition and use will be basically different from that of fresh milk or pasteurised milk. Entry 23 of the Third Schedule speaks of fresh milk including pasteurised, toned or reconstituted mil ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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