TMI Blog1962 (8) TMI 55X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... abattu. In the four assessment years in ques- tion it has been assessed on its turnover of this silver wire. It claims that under Notification No. ST-911/X, dated 31st March, 1956, issued under section 4 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, kalabattu having been exempted from payment of sales tax, it was not liable to payment of sales tax on its turnover of silver wire. Item No. 32 of List II of the said notification is: "Kalabattu manufactured in Uttar Pradesh when sold by the manufacturers thereof." The Sales Tax Officer on a consideration of the dictionary meanings of the word "kalabattu", and further on a consideration of the fact that according to its own books the petitioner sold silver wire to kalabattu manufacturers and not to the consume ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... anufacturers and not to the consumers of kalabattu. It, therefore, seems to me to be clear that if the finding of the Sales Tax Officer can stand on the basis of the dictionary meaning and the entries in the assessee's own books the mere fact that he may also have con- sulted some persons behind the back of the petitioner to reinforce the conclusion already arrived at by him would not vitiate the finding. As regards the first point I have been referred to a large number of Hindi and Urdu dictionaries as to the exact meaning of the word kalabattu as that word has not been defined in the notification. The word kalabattu is a compound word made of two words kala and battu. Kala means "artifice" or a practical art and battu which has been deriv ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... origin of the word as well as from the statement of Hanuman Das, it is clear that the correct meaning of kalabattu is gold or silver thread obtained by twisting gold or silver wire with silk or cotton thread. I also find that what the witness described as badla is also known as salma. Only salma may be silver or gold wires twisted together and not twisted with silk or cotton thread. I also find that kalabattu is "thread" and not "wire" and thread is obtained only by twisting two or more strands of any material or mate- rials together and it does not mean a single strand or wire. In this con- nection it is significant to notice that the Sales Tax Officer had described the petitioner in the heading of the assessment order as "silver wire m ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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