The term "copra" in entry No. 6(viii) in Schedule B, Part II, of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959 includes copra powder.

The judgment of the Court was delivered by

MOHTA, J. - What principally falls for consideration in this writ petition is whether the word "copra" as found in entry No. 6(viii) in Schedule B, Part II, of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959 ("the BST Act" for short) takes within its ambit copra powder (copra-kis).

2. The relevant entry reads thus :

"6. Oil-seeds, that is to say, -

(i) to (vii) ....................

(viii) Coconut (i.e., copra excluding tender coconuts (Cocos nucifera).

(ix) to (xx) ....................."

The petitioner is a partnership firm carrying on business of manufacture of copra oil and copra powder. According to the petitioner - a position not disputed - it prepares copra powder by simple process of crushing desiccated copra, which process does not involve either addition of new substance or substracting any ingredients resulting into any chemical change in the substance of copra or loss of its identity. The Sales Tax Officer (Recovery), Unit-I, Nagpur, respondent No. 2, passed two assessment orders dated 29th December, 1983 for different periods, namely, 1st November, 1978 to 21st October, 1979 and 22nd October, 1979 to 7th November, 1980 rejecting the stand in the returns filed by the petitioner that copra powder was subject to sales tax only at 4 per cent. as mentioned in Schedule B, Part II. The respondent No. 2 held that copra powder is altogether a different substance than copra and as it was not included either in Schedule B or in the exempted category of goods mentioned in Schedule A, it was subject to tax at 5 + 3 per cent. under residuary entry No. 22 of Schedule E as it stood at the relevant time, i.e., before its amendment by Maharashtra Act No. 32 of 1981. By this writ petition these two orders are impugned.

3. It appears that the respondents were consistently treating copra powder as "copra" for the purposes of the BST Act till the year 1978 when the Commissioner of Sales Tax of the State took a different view of the matter, vide his order dated 23rd October, 1978 in the case of M/s. Mahesh Khopra Industries and M/s. Malhar Products. By the time the impugned orders were passed, the question involved with reference to the Central Sales Tax Act ("the CST Act" for short) was decided by the Karnataka High Court in the case of Sri Lakshmi Coconut Industries v. State of Karnataka [1980] 46 STC 404. The respondent No. 2 refused to follow the said decision in preference to the view taken by the Commissioner. It may be mentioned the relevant entry in ection 14 of the CST Act and entry in question in the BST Act are in pari materia.

4. Now, it is a trite law that the object of such single point taxation is the commercial commodity and not the substance of which it is made. Difference lies not in the validity of this age old principle but in its application. Various authorities have been considered by the Karnataka High Court in arriving at the conclusion. It is unnecessary to refer in details to all of them. However, few important decisions may be noticed. In Tungabhadra Industries v. Commercial Tax Officer [1960] 11 STC 827 (SC) it is held that hydrogenated groundnut oil (vanaspati) and groundnut oil are one and the same commodity for the purposes of rule 18(2) of the Madras General Sales Tax (Turnover and Assessment) Rules, 1939. In Alladi Venkateswarlu v. Government of Andhra Pradesh [1978] 41 STC 394 (SC) the Supreme Court has held that parched rice (poha) puffed rice (murmura) are rice within the meaning of entry 66(b) of the First Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957. In the case of State of Gujarat v. Sakarwala Brothers [1967] 19 STC 24 (SC), the Supreme Court has held that patasa, harda and alchidana fall within the word "sugar" in entry 47 of Schedule A to the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959. In the case of Commissioner of Sales Tax, M.P. v. Jaswani Singh [1967] 19 STC 469 (SC) the word "coal" is held to include "charcoal". In State of Gujarat v. Prakash Trading Co. [1972]