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TMI Blog1964 (8) TMI 69X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... at agricultural income shall not be included in the total income of an assessee. The relevant portion of the definition reads as follows : ' agricultural income ' means (a) any rent or revenue derived from land which is used for agricultural purposes, and is either assessed to land revenue in the taxable territories or subject to a local rate assessed and collected by officers of the Government as such ; (b) any income derived from such land by- . . . . . (ii) the performance by a cultivator or receiver of rent-in-kind of any process ordinarily employed by a cultivator or receiver of rent-in-kind to render the produce raised or received by him fit to be taken to market . . . The primary condition re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ransport and storage. It has also to be homogenised and concentrated to reduce the transport charges. The three familiar varieties are creamed latex, evaporated latex and centrifuged latex. The more important forms in which plantation rubber is usually sold are as sheets and crepe. The Encyclopaedia Britannica deals with them as follows : The details of the methods employed in the preparation of plantation rubber depend upon the shape and appearance of the produce to be put on the market, but in nearly all cases the outlines of the procedure adopted are the same. The sieved and diluted latex containing 15-25 per cent. rubber is treated with a coagulant such as acetic or formic acid or sodium silicofluoride. This cause ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... perior quality 1. Standard quality 2. Good fair average quality 3. Fair average quality 4. Low fair average quality 5. Inferior fair average quality ; three qualities of thick latex crepe: 1 X Superior quality No. 1. Standard quality 2. Fair average quality; and three qualities of thin latex crepe: 1 X Superior quality No. 1. Standard quality 2. Fair average quality. The Central Government has fixed with effect from April 28, 1962, the maximum and minimum prices for the various grades and qualities of rubber and latex of different concentrations. The grades and qualities of rubber are as given below : Grade of rubber Quality of rubber -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group 1 R. M. A. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Rubber Manufacturers Association of America in the grading of natural rubber or by the Central Government in the fixation of the maximum and minimum prices. It may be that this is due to the fact that sole crepe is a commodity manufactured for a specific purpose for use as soles of shoes and other types of foot-wear. And if such is the case, the conclusion may follow that the process employed in the making of sole crepe is far more than is necessary for rendering the plantation produce fit to be taken to market. The maximum and minimum prices are fixed by the Central Government under section 13 of the Rubber Act, 1947, which says that the Cenral Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, fix the maximum price or the mini ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... The order of the Tribunal consists of three short paragraphs. It reads as follows : The only question, which this appeal raises for our consideration, is whether the process of conversion of latex into sole crepe is a process employed by the cultivator of rubber to make the produce marketable. The departmental officers have held that latex itself is a marketable commodity and its conversion into sole crepe would involve a process other than agricultural process and that this process would not constitute a process employed by a cultivator to make the produce marketable within the meaning of section 2(1)(b)(ii) of the Act. Hence this appeal. The matter is not res integra. It is covered by ample authority. In Deputy Com ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and Sales Tax v. Travancore Rubber and Tea Co. Ltd. ((1964) K. L. J. 534) as well. Paragraph 3 of the latter decision will also show that it was not even disputed that the usual method is conversion into smoked sheets and that the said conversion is not a manufacturing process but a process essential for the transport and marketing of the produce concerned. In the light of what is stated above, we answer the question referred in the affirmative, that is, in favour of the assessee and against the department. We would like to add, however, that a fuller investigation is indicated in regard to sole crepe, and that the answer we have given should not form a precedent for the future. We say this particularly because we are not satisfied with ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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