Goods specified in Schedule B to the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948, are exempt from purchase tax, including agricultural produce such as sugarcane.

Ajit Singh Bains, J.

1. The petitioner-company is registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and its registered office is at Dhuri. It is doing the business of manufacturing sugar at Dhuri, District Sangrur. The petitioner-company purchased sugarcane from producers/growers at purchase centres and also at the mill premises for the purposes of manufacturing sugar. It is alleged in the petition that in the assessment year 1973-74, the petitioner-company has purchased sugarcane from producers directly. The petitioner-company filed its quarterly returns and also placed statements showing the purchases of sugarcane and sales of sugar. The Assessing Authority vide its assessment order dated 25th March, 1975 (annexure A) held that the petitioner-company was liable for purchase tax to the tune of Rs. 6,68,963.76. The petitioner-company submitted written arguments before the Assessing Authority that it was not liable but its arguments were rejected. It is against the assessment order dated 25th March, 1975 (annexure P-l) that the present writ petition has been filed.

2. Mr. Bhagirath Dass, the counsel for the petitioner, contends that the petitioner-company is not liable to pay the purchase tax on goods specified in Schedule B to the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 (hereinafter called "the Act"). The State has filed the return. There is no controversy about the facts. Mr. D.N. Rampal, the learned counsel for the State, has conceded that during the assessment year 1973-74, the company had purchased the sugarcane from the growers direct but contends that the company is liable to pay purchase tax under Section 4B of the Act and the exemption, if any, is only given to the growers under entry No. 39 of Schedule B to the Act. To resolve the controversy, it is necessary to reproduce Section 4B of the Act, which is in the following terms:

4B. Levy of purchase tax on certain goods. -- Where a dealer who is liable to pay tax under this Act purchases any goods other than those specified in Schedule B from any source and -- (i) uses them within the State in the manufacture of goods specified in Schedule B, or

(ii) uses them within the State in the manufacture of any goods, other than those specified in Schedule B, and sends the goods so manufactured outside the State in any manner other than by way of sale in the course of inter-State trade or commerce or in the course of export out of the territory of India, or

(iii) uses such goods for a purpose other than that of resale within the State or sale in the course of inter-State trade or commerce or in the course of export out of the territory of India, or

(iv) sends them outside the State other than by way of sale in the course of inter-State trade or commerce or in the course of export out of the territory of India, and no tax is payable on the purchase of such goods under any other provision of this Act, there shall be levied a tax on the purchase of such goods at such rate not exceeding the rate specified under Sub-section (1) of Section 5 as the State Government may direct.

3. A reading of this section shows that a dealer is liable to pay tax under the Act if he purchases any goods other than those specified in Schedule B from any source. There is no ambiguity in the section. The intention of the legislature seems to be quite clear. It is settled law of interpretation that the words are to be interpreted as they appear in the provision, simple and grammatical meaning is to be given to them and nothing can be added or substracted. Goods specified in Schedule B to the Act from any source purchased by the dealer are exempt from the payment of the purchase tax. Section 2(d) of the Act defines "dealer", which is as under:

Dealer means any person including a department of Government, who in the normal course of trade, sells or purchases any goods in the State of Punjab, irrespective of the fact that the main place of business of such person is outside the said State and where the main place of