JUDGMENT

H. R. KHANNA, J. :—This is an appeal by special leave against the judgment of the Kerala High Court dismissing revision petition of the petitioner against the order in appeal of the Appellant Tribunal whereby the Tribunal refused to include certain items in the sales tax registration certificate of the appellant.

2. The appellant, Travancore Tea Estates Co., Ltd., is a company incorporated in England having its registered office in London. The appellant carries on the business of tea planting in India at Vandiperiyar in Peermade Taluk in Kerala State. Eight tea estates are owned by the appellant in Peermade Taluk. To manufacture tea grown in those estates, the appellant maintains separate tea factories in each of those estates. On an application may by the appellant for registration under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (Act 74 of 1956) (hereinafter referred to as the Act), the sales tax authorities granted registration certificate to the appellant on January 9, 1963. Aggrieved by the non-inclusion of certain items of goods in the registration certificate, the appellant filed writ petition in the Kerala High Court. The High Court directed the Sales Tax Officer to decide the question regarding the inclusion of items in the light of the decisions of this Court in J. K. Cotton Spinning & Weaving Mills Co. Ltd. v. The Sales Tax Officer, 16 STC 563 and Indian Copper Corporation Ltd. v. Commissioner of Commercial taxes, 16STC 259. The Sales Tax Officer thereafter allowed the inclusion of some of the items of goods asked for by the appellant in the registration certificate but refused to include certain other goods in that certificate. The appellant thereupon preferred appeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax Kottayam, who partly allowed the appeal by directing further inclusion of certain items. The Appellate Assistant Commissioner, however, declined to include the following items in the certificate in respect of which prayer had been made by the appellant :

"(1) Fertilisers, chemicals, weedicides, insecticides, fungicides and pesticides for use in tea cultivation;

(2) Cement and other building materials for installing and housing tea machinery and equipments;

(3) Building materials, iron and hosepipes, sanitary fittings for use in estates and estate factories;

(4) Weighing and measuring and packing equipments for use in tea estates; and

(5) All other articles and things for use in manufacture and processing of sale of tea."

The appellant then took the matter in further appeal before the Appellate Tribunal and prayed for the inclusion in the certificate of the above mentioned items. The Appellate Tribunal did not accept the prayer of the appellant and dismissed the appeal. Revision petition was thereupon filed by the appellant before the Kerala High Court against the order of the Tribunal.

3. In appeal before the High Court it was stated on behalf of the appellant in respect of the first item relating to fertilisers, chemicals, weedicides and insecticides, that they were used for cultivation of tea leaves. The contention of the appellant was that the growing and manufacturing of tea constituted one integrated process and therefore the items of goods required for growing tea should be deemed to be goods intended for use in the manufacture of tea within the meaning of Section 8 (3) (b) of the Act. This contention had also been advanced by the appellant earlier before the Tribunal but the Tribunal rejected this contention as in its view "the legislature has not included production by agriculture as one of the operations for which goods can be purchased under Section 8 of the Central Sales Tax Act." The Tribunal further held that merely because the agricultural process of the company is connected with the process of manufacture, production of tea did not form part of the manufacture and processing of tea. The High Court disagreed with this reasoning of the Tribunal and observed that the expression "in the manuf