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1979 Supreme(Pat) 220
PATNA HIGH COURT
Shiveshwar Prasad Sinha and Nagendra JJ.
Commissioner Of Commercial Taxes
Versus
Abdul Shakoor
Taxation Case No. 54 of 1971 ;
Decided On : SEPTEMBER 24, 1979
The central legal point established in the judgment is the classification of lemon as a vegetable for the purpose of sales tax exemption.
Headnote:
Lemon - Sales Tax Exemption - The court determined whether lemon is exempt from sales tax as a green vegetable under the relevant notification. The Supreme Court's judgment in a similar case was cited to establish that lemon is considered a vegetable, leading to the court's decision to exempt it from sales tax.
Fact of the Case:
The respondent claimed exemption from sales tax for the turnover of lemon, contending that it was a green vegetable. The assessing officer initially disallowed the claim, but subsequent authorities had conflicting views on whether lemon should be considered a fruit or a vegetable.
Finding of the Court:
The court, citing a Supreme Court judgment, concluded that lemon is a vegetable and is exempted from sales tax under the relevant notification.
Issues: The main issue was whether lemon should be classified as a green vegetable for the purpose of sales tax exemption.
Ratio Decidendi: The court relied on the interpretation of the term 'vegetable' and the precedent set by the Supreme Court's judgment to determine the classification of lemon for sales tax exemption.
Final Decision: The court ruled in favor of the respondent, holding that lemon is a vegetable and is exempted from the levy of general or special sales tax by the relevant notification.
N. P. Singh, J.
1. By an order dated 11th November, 1972, this Court directed the Commercial Taxes Tribunal, Bihar (hereinafter referred as "the said Tribunal"), to state the case and to refer the following question of law to this Court: whether lemon is a type of goods which is exempted from the levy of general or special sales tax by item 11 of Schedule III or any other item of Notification No. STGL-AR-107/59-9134-F. T. dated the 1st July, 1959?
2. Thereafter on 8th August, 1975, the Tribunal forwarded the statement of the case to this Court, from which it appears that the respondent carried on business under the name and style, M/s. Abdul Shakoor and Sons, at Kedarnath Market, Gaya, and he dealt with inter alia in fruits and vegetables. For the financial year 1961-62, the respondent returned a gross turnover of Rs.68,292.29 and claimed that the turnover of Rs.34,530.69 comprised within the gross turnover was exempted from the tax as it represented sales of green vegetables.
3. The Assistant Superintendent of Commercial Taxes, Gaya, by his order of assessment dated 18th November, 1964, disbelieved the books of account. He disallowed the claim for deduction on account of sales of green vegetables to the extent of Rs.2,627 perhaps on the ground that lemon was not a vegetable. The respondent filed an appeal which was heard by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, who remanded the case to the assessing officer to consider specifically as to whether lemon was a green vegetable exempted from sales tax, both general and special. After remand the assessing officer affirmed his earlier order of assessment and reiterated that lemon was not a tax-free commodity. The dealer again went in appeal and the Appellate Assistant Commissioner held that lemon did not come under the purview of green vegetables and has been rightly treated as a fruit. Thereafter, the dealer went up in revision before the Deputy Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, who was of the view that lemon was a green vegetable and, as such, exempted from tax. On that finding, the Deputy Commissioner remanded the case to the assessing officer for fresh assessment. Being aggrieved by that order, the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes filed a revision application under Sec.31 of the Bihar Sales Tax Act, 1959 (hereinafter referred as "the Act"), to the Tribunal. The Tribunal by order dated 3rd November, 1969, concluded that lemon was not a fruit and it should be considered as a green vegetable.
4. Thereafter the application filed on behalf of the Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, before the Tribunal for referring the question of law to the High Court having been rejected it was filed before this Court for a direction to the Tribunal to state the case and to refer it to the High Court on the aforesaid question of law. As already stated above, this Court on 11th November, 1972, passed an order directing the Tribunal to refer the question of law for consideration by this Court.
5. Mr. K. N. Jain appearing on behalf of the department at the outset has drawn our attention to a judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Mangulu Sahu Ramahari Sahu V/s. Sales Tax Officer, Ganjam [1973] 32 S. T. C.494 (S. C.), and submitted that the question which was to be decided by this Court in the present case has already been decided by the Supreme Court. It appears that lemon has been held to be a vegetable. Once it is held that lemon is a vegetable then there is no controversy that the respondent is entitled for exemption in view of the notification dated 1st July, 1959, details whereof have been mentioned in the statement of case forwarded to this Court by the Tribunal.
6. Accordingly, we answer the reference in the affirmative that lemon is a vegetable and is exempted from the levy of general or special sales tax by item No.11 of Schedule III read with the notification dated 1st July, 1959. In the circumstances of the case, there will be no order as to costs.
