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TMI Blog1988 (9) TMI 341X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of wholesomeness of water, for the establishment, with a view to carrying out the purposes aforesaid, of Boards for the prevention and control of water pollution, for conferring on and assigning to such Boards powers and functions relating thereto and for matters connected therewith". For the aforesaid purposes, the Act contemplated creation of State Boards at State level and the Central Board at the national level. Thereafter, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977 being Act 36 of 1977 was passed (hereinafter called 'the Act'). The preamble to the said Act states that the said Act was "to provide for the levy and collection of a cess on water consumed by persons carrying on certain industries and by local authorities, with a view to augment the resources of the Central Board and the State Boards for the prevention and control of water pollution constituted under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974". Therefore, the said Act was passed only for the purpose of providing for levy and collection of cess on water consumed by persons carrying on certain industries with a view to augment the resources of the Central Board and t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ted under the Act. The Appellate committee by its order dated 30th November, 1982 conformed the orders of the assessment passed by the petitioner. Before the Appellate Committee various contentions were urged and only one of such contention survives now and is agitated before us, namely, that the Rayon Industry is nOt included in Schedule I of the said Act. The Appellate Committee by its order said as follows: "We are unable to agree with the arguments advanced by the learned counsel. The appellant industry is manufacturing Rayon Grade Pulp which comes under the category of textile industry as it involves the production of Rayon Grade Pulp. a base material for manufacture of synthetic of man-made fibres.'' From the aforesaid, it appears that the Appellate Committee was of the view that the respondent herein was manufacturing Rayon Grade Pulp which comes under the category of Textile mentioned in Schedule I of the Act. Textile industry is item No. 10 in the aforesaid Schedule. Aggrieved by the decision of the Appellate Committee, the respondent herein filed writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Act as well as the levy of cess on water on the ground that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... KB 64 at 71. This Court has also reiterated the same view in Gursahai Saigal v. C.I.T. Punjab, [1963] 3 SCR 893; S.L. T. Madras v. V. MR. P. Firm, Muar, [1965] I SCR 815. and Controller of Estate Duty Gujarat v. Kantilal Trikamlal, [1977] 1 SCR 9. The question as to what is covered must be found out from the language according to its natural meaning fairly and squarely read. See the observations in IRC v. Duke of Westminster, [1936] AC I at 24, and of this Court in A V Fernandez v. The State of Kerala, [1957] SCR 837. Justice Krishna Iyer of this Court in Martand Dairy & Farm v. Union of India, [1975] Suppl. SCR 265 has observed that taxing consideration may stem from administrative experience and other factors of life and not artistic visualisation or neat logic and so the literal, though pedestrian, interpretation must prevail. In this case where the question is whether a particular industry is an industry as covered in Schedule I of the Act, it has to be judged normally by what that industry produces mainly. Every industry carries out multifarious activities to reach its goal through various multifarious methods. Whether a particular industry falls within the realm of taxatio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the subject matter of the legislation. See Cross Statutory Interpretation, 2nd Edition page 21. This Court in Lt Col. Prithi Pal Singh Bedi etc. v. Union of India & Ors., [1983] I S.C.R. 393 at page 404 of the report reiterated that the dominant purpose in construing a statute is to ascertain the intention of the Parliament. One of the well recognised canons of construction is that the legislature speaks its mind by use of correct expression and unless there is any ambiguity in the language of the provision the Court should adopt literal construction if it does not lead to an absurdity. Therefore, the first question to be posed is whether there is any ambiguity in the language used. If there is none, it would mean the language used, speaks the mind of Parliament and there is no need to look somewhere else to discover the intention or meaning. If the literal construction leads to an absurdity, external aids to construction can be resorted to. To ascertain the literal meaning it is equally necessary first to ascertain the juxtaposition in which the rule is placed, the purpose for which it is enacted and the object which it is required to subserve and the authority by which the rule ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... p from wood or bamboo involves consumption of large quantities of water which get polluted in the process; and "chemical industry'' in the context in which it is used in Schedule I of the Act, can therefore, include an industry manufacturing rayon-grade pulp. We are unable, with respect, to accept the circuitous process of reasoning of the Kerala High Court. As mentioned hereinbefore, looked at from this circuitous method every industry would be chemical industry. It could not have been the intention to include all industries because every industry has to go to certain chemical process more or less and, therefore, it could not be so construed. Such expression should, therefore, be construed reasonably, strictly and from a commonsense point of view. The High Court of Kerala has set out in the said judgment the company's case in that case which also produced Rayon Grade Pulp and the manufacturing process consisted only of isolating cellulose present in bamboo and wood by removal of "lignin" and other contents, and that the resultant product is not chemical cellulose. It explained the process as under: "The actual process of manufacture of Rayon grade pulp is by f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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