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TMI Blog2004 (4) TMI 632X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... anch of aquaculture. Pisciculture is not agriculture. The learned senior counsel for the appellants invited our attention to the definition of term agriculture as given in definition sections or interpretation clauses of several other enactments such as sub-section (2) of Section 2 of Tamil Nadu Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act, 1987, clause (b) of Section 2 of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Act, 1971, clause (a) of Section 2 of Agricultural and Rural Debt Relief Scheme, 1990, so defining the term agriculture as to include therein pisciculture . These definitions were pressed in service by Shri Iyer, the learned senior counsel, to support his submission for a similar meaning being assigned in the present case. Suffice it to observe that the common parlance meaning of the term agriculture , in the context in which it has been used and is arising for determination before us, cannot be determined by reference to definition given in other statutes. This we say for more reasons than one. Firstly, none of the statutes reffered to by Shri Iyer, the learned senior counsel, can be called statutes in pari materia. Secondly, it is common knowledge that the definition coined ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 75 per horse power per annum Explanation (i) -'Small Farmer' means a person whose total holding whether as owner, tenant or morgagee with possession, or partly in one capacity and partly in another, does not exceed two and a half acres of wet lands or five acres of dry lands. In computing the extent of land held by a person who holds wet and dry lands, two acres of dry lands shall be taken to be. equivalent to one acre of wet land. Explanation (ii) - Supply of power shall be given free of charge to the small farmers whose family is solely dependent on the income derived from his agricultural land holdings. Explanation (iii). - Agricultural consumers shall be permitted lighting up to 50 watts per 1,000 watts of motive power connected, subject to a maximum of 150 watts inclusive of wattage of pilot lamps each of which shall not exceed 15 watts and with no more than 3 lamps (excluding pilot lamps) for lighting the farm or the field around the pumpset. Energy used for radios and other appliances including domestic lighting in farm houses shall be metered separately and charged for at the appropriate tariff Agricultural consumers shall be permitted to use the water pumped fro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... are in appeal by special leave. The short question which arises for decision is : whether pisciculture is agriculture? The Act, either in the main part, or in the Schedule detailing the tariff rates, does not define agriculture. We have, therefore, to proceed to examine how the tern agriculture is understood amongst the agriculturists and whether it was the intention of the State Legislature while enacting the Schedule as originally framed or of the State Government while issuing the notification dated 19.11.1990 to include pisciculture within the meaning of agriculture. It is settled rule of interpretation that the words not defined in a statute are to be understood in their natural, ordinary or popular sense. According to Justice Frankfurter, "After all, legislation, when not expressed in technical terms, is addressed to common run of men, and is, therefore, to be understood according to sense of the thing, as the ordinary man has a right to rely on ordinary words addressed." (Wilma E. Addison v. Holly Hill Fruit Products, 322 US 607, at p.618). In determining, therefore, whether a particular import is included within the ordinary meaning of a given word, one may ha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 1) of Section 2 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 which defines 'agricultural income' as meaning, amongst other things, 'any income derived from land by agriculture' came up for the consideration of this Court. Bhagwati, J., (as His Lordship then was) spoke on behalf of the three-Judges Bench. A reading of the judgment shows a research by looking into several authorities, meaning assigned by dictionaries and finding out how the term is understood in common parlance. The Court held that the term 'agriculture' has been defined in various dictionaries both in the narrow sense and in the wider sense. In the narrow sense agriculture is the cultivation of the field. In the wider sense it comprises of all activities in relation to the land including horticulture, forestry, breeding and rearing of livestock, dairying, butter and cheese- making, husbandry etc. Whether the narrower or the wider sense of the term 'agriculture' should be adopted in a particular case depends not only upon the provisions of the various statutes in which the same occurs but also upon the facts and circumstances of each case. The definition of the term in one statute does not afford a gui ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... products which are raised upon the land, there is no warrant at all for extending it to all activities which have relation to the land or are in any way connected with the land. The use of the word agriculture in regard to such activities would certainly be a distortion of the term. It is, therefore, clear that agriculture, for our purpose, need not be kept confined in its meaning to the production of grain and food products for consumption of human beings alone; it can be extended as comprising within its meaning all the products of the land involving human labour but then it is the producing capacity of the land which must necessarily be found as involved in any activity to amount to agriculture. Shri T.L.V. lyer, the learned senior counsel for the appellants referred to a host of authorities, which find mention in the judgment of the High Court also as they were cited there too, such as Text Book of Fish Culture, Breeding and Cultivation of Fish by Marcell Huet, Fresh Water Fish Pond Culture and Management by Joan Koster, Fresh Water Aquaculture by Dr. Rajendra Kumar Rath and many others, reference to which need not be multiplied, in his effort to demonstrate what is piscicult ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... agriculture in its narrow sense. Fishes are not domestic animals and are not included within the meaning of the term 'livestock'. The learned senior counsel for the appellants invited our attention to the definition of term 'agriculture' as given in definition sections or interpretation clauses of several other enactments such as sub-section (2) of Section 2 of Tamil Nadu Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act, 1987, clause (b) of Section 2 of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Act, 1971, clause (a) of Section 2 of Agricultural and Rural Debt Relief Scheme, 1990, so defining the term 'agriculture' as to include therein 'pisciculture'. These definitions were pressed in service by Shri Iyer, the learned senior counsel, to support his submission for a similar meaning being assigned in the present case. Suffice it to observe that the common parlance meaning of the term 'agriculture', in the context in which it has been used and is arising for determination before us, cannot be determined by reference to definition given in other statutes. This we say for more reasons than one. Firstly, none of the statutes reffered to by Shri Iyer, the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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