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TMI Blog1980 (5) TMI 30X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... High Court is right in the view taken by it. Appeal dismissed. - Civil Appeal No. 2398 of 1978, - - - Dated:- 9-5-1980 - Mr. Justice P.N. Bhagwati, Mr. Justice V.D. Tulzapurkar and Mr. Justice R.S. Pathak JJ. M.M. Abdul Khader, Senior Advocate (V.J. Francis and M.A. Firoz, Advocates, with him), for the appellant. S.T. Desai, Senior Advocate, and P.A. Francis, Senior Advocate (Mrs. S. Gopalakrishnan, Advocate, with them), for the respondent. [Order per : R.S. Pathak, J.] : - This appeal by special leave is directed against the judgment of the Kerala High Court holding that the turnover of pineapple fruit purchased for preparing pineapple slices for sale in sealed cans is not covered by Section 5-A(1)(a) of the Kerala General ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ocess was involved and that, therefore, the case fell within Section 5-A(1)(a). In revision before the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal, the assessee conceded that pineapple jam and pineapple squash would be covered by Section 5-A(1)(a), and in regard to pineapple juice the Tribunal found that Section 5-A(1)(a) was attracted. The only question which remained was whether the preparation of pineapple slices fell within Section 5-A(1)(a). On that question two members of the Tribunal found in favour of the assessee, and the third member found in favour of the Revenue. The Revenue then applied in revision to the High Court and the High Court has, by its judgment dated 24th January, 1978, maintained the order of the Tribunal. 3. It appears that the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ty but instead is recognised as a new and distinct article that a manufacture can be said to take place. Where there is no essential difference in identity between the original commodity and the processed article it is not possible to say that one commodity has been consumed in the manufacture of another. Although it has undergone a degree of processing, it must be regarded as still retaining its original identity. 5. A large number of cases has been placed before us by the parties, and in each of them the same principle has been applied : Does the processing of the original commodity bring into existance a commercially different and distinct article? Some of the cases where it was held by this Court that a different commercial article ha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e sugar added as a preservative. On a total impression, it seems to us, the pineapple slices must be held to possess the same identity as the original pineapple fruit. 7. While on the point, we may refer to East Taxes Motor Freight Lines v. Frosen Food Express, where the U.S. Supreme Court held that dressed and frozen chicken was not a commercially distinct article from the original chicken. It was pointed out : "Killing, dressed and freezing a chicken is certainly a change in the commodity. But it is no more drastic a change than the change which takes place in milk from pasteurising, homogenizing, adding vitamin concentrates, standardising and bottling". It was also observed : "..................there is hardly less difference bet ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... commodity. The higher price, it seems to us, is occasioned only because of the labour put into making the fruit more readily consumable and because of the can employed to contain it. It is not as if the higher price is claimed because it is a different commercially commodity. It is said that pineapple slices appeal to a different sector of the trade and that when a customer asks for a can of pineapple slices he had in mind something very different from fresh pineapple fruit. Here again, the distinction in the mind of the consumer arises not from any difference in the essential identity of the two, but is derived from the mere form in which the fruit is desired. Learned counsel for the Revenue contends that even if no manufacturing process i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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