9911796707
TMI Blog1998 (8) TMI 635X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ntries 8 and 23 of the First Schedule read thus: 8. Fresh vegetables and edible tubers. * * * 23. Flower, fruit and vegetable seed; seeds of lucerne grass (Rajka) and of sann hemp; bulbs, tubers and plants other than orchids. 3. That chicory roots are a tuber is not disputed. The question is whether the chicory roots, as cut and dried, are a commodity different from the tuber itself. 4. The appellants manufacture coffee. Chicory is an ingredient in the manufacture of coffee. The appellants entered into agreements in similar terms with cultivators whereunder the cultivators grew chicory and the appellants purchased the same. Clause (1) of the agreement stated that the cultivators would grow chicory in stated acreages of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cultivators did not change their character as chicory roots. He cited the judgment of this Court in CST v. Pio Food Packers, 1980 Supp SCC 174, 1980 SCC (Tax) 319 Learned counsel for the Revenue submitted that the character of the chicory roots did change; upon drying and cutting they lost their character as tubers and, applying the popular parlance test, could no longer be said to be such. 7. The case of Pio Food Packers aforementioned was concerned with pineapples which, after washing, were cut so that the inedible portions were removed. They were then sliced and canned in preservatives and the cans were sealed and sterilised. The question was: Is the pineapple fruit consumed in the manufacture of pineapple slices? This Court referr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... efers to edible tubers and there is no material on record to show that dried chicory roots are edible. 10. The contention of the Revenue in regard to Entry 23 is that it refers to that which may germinate. It is said that the entry refers to the seeds of flowers, fruits, vegetables, lucerne grass and hemp; and bulbs fall in the same category. There is no doubt that this is so, but the entry also goes on to mention tubers and plants other than orchids . Plants, as such, do not germinate. Tubers are linked to plants in the entry and must be similarly construed. Therefore, there being no dispute that chicory roots are tubers, they would, in our view, fall within the ambit of Entry 23 and must be subjected to tax accordingly. 11. The sec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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