RAJAGOPALAN, J.

The limited question that arises in this application preferred by the Government under section 12-B of the Madras General Sales Tax Act is whether the arecanuts sold by the respondent in the assessment year 1951-52 constituted "agricultural or horticultural produce grown by (the assessee) himself or grown on any land in which he had an interest, whether as owner, usufructuary mortgagee, tenant or otherwise", within the meaning of the proviso to section 2(1) of the Act.

The Deputy Commercial Tax Officer rejected the amounts of the petitioner and estimated the turnover of the cured nuts sold by the petitioner during 1951-52 at Rs. 40, 736 and assessed him to a tax of Rs. 636-8-0 on that turnover. An appeal to the Commercial Tax Officer failed. The assessee took the matter up on further appeal to the Appellate Tribunal. The Tribunal rejected the assessee's contention that he was not a "dealer" at all as defined by the Act. The Tribunal, however, accepted the contentions of the assessee : (1) that what the assessee sold was horticultural produce within the meaning of the proviso to section 2(i) of the Act, and (2) that the assessee had an interest in the land