TMI Blog1994 (4) TMI 170X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hing but natural rubber. Caoutchouc or latex means not only milky substance obtained from the trees but it included all milk substance processed, till it is made marketable. Since the processing does not result in bringing out a new commodity but it preserves the same and renders it fit for being marketed, it does not change its character. It was caoutchouc or latex when it was obtained from the trees, it continued to be caoutchouc or latex when it was treated by sulphuric acid and continued to be so even after it is dried with smoke to obtain the shape of sheets. The test of commercial parlance while considering entries in Sales Tax Act was evolved as the tax under the Sales Tax enactments is normally either on sale or purchase or on ma ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ef Conservator of Forests, was challenged, it does not appear to have been pressed in the High Court either before the learned Single Judge or the Division Bench nor was it pressed even in this Court to support the order of the High Court. The dispute, thus, centres round the question whether rubber sheets could be regarded as `forest produce . It may further not be out of place to mention that the definition of `Forest Produce in the Act was amended in 1989 and rubber latex was added as one of the items in it. But the learned counsel for the State did not rely on the amended definition as clarificatory of what was included earlier. He based his submission, rather on claim that the word `caoutchouc was wide enough to include rubber sheets ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... orm of sheets and thereafter dried with the help of smoke and graded into grades of I to V could not be treated as forest produce, for the process applied resulted in the brining out a commodity which was different from latex, and therefore, no tax could be levied on it. 4. `Caoutchouc is included as one of the forest produce under sub-section (7) of Section 2 of the Karnataka Forest Act. In Chambers English Dictionary, `caoutchouc is defined as `India-rubber, gum-elastic; the latex of rubber trees . In Random House Dictionary, `rubber is defined as `India-rubber, natural rubber, gum-elastic caoutchouc a highly elastic, light cream or dark amber coloured, solid substance polymerized by the drying and coagulation of the latex or milky ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ch includes latex. The natural rubber or latex is milky fluid obtained by incisions, in the bark of trees. It cannot remain as such for long therefore it needs processing. 6. In the Rubber Grower s Companion 1991, it is mentioned that the main crop for the rubber tree is latex, a milky white dispersion of rubber in water which is harvested by the process of tapping. The latex that flows out from the rubber trees on tapping is channelled into a container attached to them. The latex gets dried up on the tapping panel (tree lace) and the collection cups (shell scrap) form part of the crop and are collected by the tapper. The different kinds of crops harvested from rubber plantations are highly susceptible to bacterial action due to contamina ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... same in auction it could not claim that the latex after processing remained the same. Neither reasoning appears to be well founded. The meaning of the word `caoutchouc has been discussed. Latex is the modern name for caoutchouc. It is nothing but natural rubber. Caoutchouc or latex means not only milky substance obtained from the trees but it included all milk substance processed, till it is made marketable. Since the processing does not result in bringing out a new commodity but it preserves the same and renders it fit for being marketed, it does not change its character. It was caoutchouc or latex when it was obtained from the trees, it continued to be caoutchouc or latex when it was treated by sulphuric acid and continued to be so even ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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