The judgment of the court was delivered by

MADON, J. - This is a reference under section 61(1) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959. The facts which have given rise to this reference are that the respondents purchase from different dealers who were registered under the said Act glass bottles, rubber nipples and plastic caps and put them loose in one packing carton and sell the same as "auto feeders".

The respondents applied to the Commissioner of Sales Tax under section 52(1) of the said Act to determine the question whether their aforesaid activity amounted to "manufacture" as defined by clause (17) of section 2 of the said Act. By his order dated 29th December, 1964, the Commissioner of Sales Tax came to the conclusion that this activity amounted to "manufacture" because before packing these three articles in the carton the respondents would have to see that none of them was defective, that the rubber nipples or teats and the plastic caps would fit the glass bottles properly and that all the said three articles would then be kept together. He accordingly held that what had come into being was a commercial commodity different from its "ingredients". The respondents thereupon