Judgment

B. P. JEEVAN REDDY, J. - The appellants in this batch of appeals are Hatcheries in the State of Andhra Pradesh. They sell day-old chicks to poultry farms. The Sales Tax Authorities levied tax on the sales of day-old chicks effected by the appellants under S. 5(1) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 195. The authorities treated day-old chicks as general goods. The appellants case was that inasmuch as day-old chicks fall within Cl. (xxvi) of R. 5(2) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Rules, tax must be levied at the purchase point and, therefore, no tax can be levied or collected from the appellants. The appellants contention was rejected by the authorities whereupon they approached the High Court of Andhra Pradesh by way of writ petitions disputing the levy and collection of tax upon the sale of chicks by them. They raised two contentions before the High Court, namely (I) chicks are not goods within the meaning of Entry 54 of List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India and, therefore, no tax can be levied upon the sale or purchase of chicks at all, and (2) that even if the chicks are goods, the tax is leviable at the purchase point by virtue of