The main legal point established in the judgment is that even if a product is manufactured from forest produce, it does not lose its inherent character as forest produce, and the origin of the goods must be proven.

Deepak Gupta, C.J.:--

1. The short question which arises in these writ appeals is whether bamboo sticks which are used to make Agarbattis are forest produce or not.

2. A learned Single Judge of this Court relying upon the judgment of the Apex Court in Suresh Lohiya v. State of Maharashtra and another, (1996) 10 SCC 397] wherein the judgment of the Gujarat High Court in Fatesang Gimba Vasava and others v. State of Gujarat and others, : AIR 1987 Gujarat 9] was approved held that bamboo sticks used for making Agarbatti are not forest produce. The learned Single Judge has also made reference to a large number of other judgments for coming to the conclusion that bamboo sticks are made out of bamboo by a process of manufacture and, therefore, the end product is different. He, therefore, held that bamboo sticks meant for use in Agarbattis would not be subject to royalty as forest produce under the Indian Forest Act.

3. We have heard Sri S. Deb, learned Sr. Counsel for the State, and Sri S.M. Chakraborty, learned Sr. Counsel appearing for the respondents.

4. At the outset, we may mention that we are clearly of the view that even assuming that bamboo sticks are manufactured out of bamboo that by itself would not mean that they are not forest produce. A number of judgments relied upon by the learned Single Judge relate to tax laws, specially Excise Law wherein the issues were what was the test for determining whether a good had been manufactured or not. Even if goods are manufactured and becomes a different category of goods, this does not necessarily mean that the goods lose their inherent character. They may be termed as different goods because they have been manufactured and may have come into being by manufacturing process, but that would not necessarily mean that it has lost its initial character. The learned Single Judge relying upon the definition of manufacture has come to the conclusion that since bamboo sticks are produced by a manufacturing process, they cannot be treated to be forest produce. He has thus come to the conclusion that the original commodity namely bamboo then ceases to exist and it is Agarbatti sticks or bamboo sticks which remain and, therefore, they are not forest produce. Relevant portion of the judgment reads as follows:-

Here the original commodity, namely, the bamboo could not be used for the same purpose until it is processed to be used as Agarbati sticks. It is only by the process of cutting the bamboo into chips or sticks, it is made marketable. The bamboo cannot be used for the same purpose as the bamboo chips or sticks have been cut into specified sizes to render it marketable.

5. With due respect, we are unable to accept this part of the judgment to be correct. Assuming that the bamboo sticks, also known as Agarbatti sticks, come into being after manufacturing process that by itself will not mean that they cease to be forest produce. While determining whether manufacture has taken place, one of the tests is to see whether a different product comes into being but that does not necessarily mean that just because a different product has come into existence, it loses its inherent character. That will depend on the definition of the word “forest produce” which is defined in Section 2(4) of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 which reads as follows:-

2 (4) “forest-produce” includes--

(a) the following whether found in, or brought from, a forest or not, that is to say--timber, charcoal, caoutchouc, catechu, wood-oil, resin, natural varnish, bark, lac, mahua flowers, mahua seeds, kuth and myrabolams, and

(b) the following when found in, or brought from a forest, that is to say--

(i) trees and leaves, flowers and fruits, and all other parts or produce not hereinbefore mentioned, of trees,

(ii) plants not being trees (including grass, creepers, reeds and moss), and all parts or produce of such plants,

(iii) wild animals and skins, tusks, horns, bones, silk, cocoons, honey and wax, and all