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TMI Blog2015 (5) TMI 104X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e, inclined to hold that in the absence of any legislative intent to confine the meaning of the word "utensil, to any particular place, mode or manner of user, the hooka manufactured by the petitioner must necessarily fall within the meaning of the word "utensil". - Hooka and its parts manufactured/sold by the petitioner partake the nature of a "utensil", liable to sales tax at the rate of 3 paise in a rupee. - Decided in favour of assessee. - Civil Writ Petition No. 16808 of 1994 - - - Dated:- 30-1-2015 - Rajive Bhalla And Amit Rawal,JJ. For the Appellant : Mr Rajiv Agnihotri, Adv. For the Respondent : Ms Mamta Singal Talwar, AAG, Haryana ORDER Rajive Bhalla,J. The petitioner prays for issuance of a writ of certiorari quashing orders dated 15.04.1994 (Annexures P-8, P-8/A, P-8/B and P-8/C), passed by the Deputy Excise Taxation Commissioner-cum- Revisional Authority, Rohtak, holding that as Hookas are not utensils , sales tax would be charged, under the entry relating to general trade. The petitioner is engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of brass/ iron Hookas and their parts. The State of Haryana, issued a notification, dated 18.03.1988, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , is incorrect. A utensil is a tool, receptacle/instrument, vessel or a container and may or may not be used in a kitchen and may depending upon its user, be used for various purposes, at home, in the kitchen, for ceremonial purposes, dairy farming in hotels, restaurants etc. The base of the Hooka, is a receptacle/container used for storing water. A hooka is used in rural households and is also an integral part of social interactions, thereby clearly proving that hooka is a utensil and would, therefore, fall in the entry pertaining to ferrous and non ferrous utensils. The revisional authority has not dealt with submissions oral or written advanced on behalf of the petitioner. The petitioner had been collecting and paying tax for the last many years @ 3% and as there was a bonafide dispute as to classification, namely, the levy of interest and penalty is not warranted. Counsel for the revenue, on the other hand, submits that while exercising power under Section 40(2) of the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, the revisional authority has rightly relied upon an order passed by the Tribunal in M/s Standard Steel Metal Industries, Sonepat (supra), to hold that sale of a Hooka falls in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... generally used in kitchens, restaurants and hotels etc. The hookas cannot be said to be utensils in common parlance and is certainly a general good which has rightly been treated as such and has been taxed at the general rate of tax. Since the tax was due with the returns, the levy of interest and penalty both is fully in accordance with the provisions of law for late payment and is hereby confirmed. I, therefore, find no force in the arguments and the appeal is dismissed. A perusal of the above order reveals that the Tribunal has without reference to any definitions of the word utensil or any meaningful discussion, abruptly, held that as utensils are pots/goods, that are generally used in kitchens, restaurants and hotels, a hooka cannot be classified as a utensil. Before we answer the question posed, namely, whether a hooka is a utensil, for the purposes of a Haryana General Sales Tax Act, it would be appropriate to record that words and expressions used in a taxing statute are to be construed strictly and where a generic word appears in a statute, the word so used has to be interpreted and understood in it common generic sense, by reference to the local area to which it ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d in a statute, a court shall make an attempt to discern legislative intent and if discernible, proceed to interpret the word accordingly. A perusal of the relevant entry reveals that it does not confine the word utensil to utensils used in a kitchen. If the State had intended to confine the meaning of the word utensil to articles used in kitchens, it could have easily added the words used in a kitchen , after the word utensil . The State was conscious that if it assigned such a restrictive meaning to the word 'utensil' it would lead to multiple complications and, therefore, used the generic term utensil without linking it to any particular utensil, except pressure cookers, or to the mode and manner of its user or to the place of its user. The word utensil, therefore, must necessarily be understood as a tool, a receptacle, a vessel, an instrument, or a container, than may be used as a tool, a receptacle, an instrument, a vessel or a container. A Hooka, particularly in rural areas of the State of Haryana, is admittedly used to smoke tobacco at home. A hooka is also an integral part of social interactions in rural areas and is, therefore, used at home and in social a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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