The popular meaning and commercial sense of terms used in statutes should be considered, and in the absence of technical terms, ordinary terms should be presumed to have been used according to their popular sense.

1. Questions, interesting but not altogether free from difficulty have arisen in this case.

2. S.10 of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) enables the Government, if they consider it necessary in the public interest, by notification in the Gazette to make an exemption or reduction in respect of any tax payable under the Act (i) on sale or purchase of any specified goods or class of goods, at all points or at a specified point or points in the series of sales or purchases by successive dealers, or (ii) by a specified class of persons, in regard to whole or any part of their turnover. By S.R.O.342/63 in exercise of powers conferred by S.10 of the Act, the Government of Kerala having considered it necessary in public interest made an exemption in respect of the tax payable under the Act on the sale or purchase of goods specified in Schedule I thereto appended and by persons specified in Schedule II also thereto appended in regard to the turnover on the sales of goods specified therein subject to the conditions also specified therein. In Schedule I of the Appendix to this notification item 23 is fresh fish and item 25 is meat except meat which is cured or frozen. The main questions raised in O. P. ate:

3. What are the meanings of the expressions fresh fish and frozen meat, and whether the meat and fish preserved by the petitioner-firm in its cold storage by refrigeration would be liable to the incidence of sale tax in the light of the notification concerned.

4. The petitioner-firm is carrying on the business of selling meat and fish among other things like honey, vinegar and frog ghee. The petitioner is registered as a dealer under the Act and holds a licence from the Central Government for the purpose of running a cold storage. The petitioner has a cold storage which keeps intact meat and fish for a few days. According to the petitioner the temperature in the cold storage is maintained at a level not lower than 0° C by means of a cooling machine.

5. The petitioner was assessed to sales tax for the years 197172, 1972 73, 1973 74 and provisionally for 1974 75 and the taxes were paid according to the assessments for the periods 197174. They are also paying the advance tax by instalment for the period 1974 75. In the assessments as originally made the firm was not assessed to sales tax in respect of the amounts realised by them by sale of meat and fish. Petitioner, however, received notices No. V. 122/71-72 dated 18111974; V. 122/72-73, dated 18111974; V. 133/ 73-74 dated 18111974; V. 133 dated for the assessment years 197175, wherein it was stated that assessments made for the said years wrongly allowed exemption for the turnover of frozen meat and it was therefore proposed to assess the petitioner under S.19 of the Act for such turnover as escaped turnover. The petitioner was, therefore, called upon to file objections to the said notices which are marked in this proceedings as Ext. P-1 (a), P-1 (b), P-1 (c), P-1(d) and P-1(e) respectively. In their objections marked as Ext P-2 in this petition, petitioner stated that amounts realised by way of sale of meat was not liable to be included in the taxable turnover as meat was specifically exempted in the notification S.R.O.342/63. The petitioner pointed out that they did not keep or sell cured or frozen meat. The meat which they sell is fresh meat which is neither cured or frozen. It was further pointed out that the petitioner's cold storage was not a freezing unit and that it was incapable of freezing meat or fish. According to the objections, the lowest temperature that can be maintained in the cold storage is Oo C and meat or fish cannot be frozen unless the temperature can be lowered very much below OoC. Additional objections were also filed as per the original of Ext. P-3 marked herein dated 8th December 1974 pointing out that the turnover stated in Ext. P-1 notices was incorrect and the same exceeded the actual amount.

6. It may be no