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TMI Blog1987 (3) TMI 472X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... groundnuts imported into Calcutta metropolitan area for the purpose of manufacture of groundnut oil under the provisions of the Taxes on Entry of Goods into Calcutta Metropolitan Area Act, 1970, on the ground that such importation of groundnuts as oil-seeds is not subject to any levy under the provisions of the said Entry Tax Act, inasmuch as there is no specific provision for levy on groundnuts as oil-seeds for manufacturing edible oil. They have therefore prayed for a mandate directing the appellants not to impose any entry tax on the ground that they are edible nuts falling under specific entry of edibles provided in the Schedule to the said Act. There was also a prayer for refund of the taxes already imposed and collected by the respondents. The learned single judge who issued the rule after hearing both the parties held that though under serial No. 4, item No. (t) of the Schedule to the said Act, "nuts" was a specified item for purposes of imposition of entry tax as shown in corresponding column No. 3 in the said Schedule, yet the learned Judge held that since groundnut is an oil-seed for manufacturing edible oil which is not subject to entry tax, the groundnut imported for ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pecified goods Rates of tax 1 2 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLASS-I ARTICLES OF FOOD AND DRINK. * * * * 4. Edibles * * * * t. Nuts, excluding betel nuts 6 per cent ad valorem (1/2 per cent ad valorem for dry fruits) u. Oilman stores (except edible oils) do. * * * * CLASS-III ARTICLES FOR INDUSTRIAL USE AND ARTICLES USED FOR FUEL, LIGHTING, WASHING AND POLISHING. A.-Articles for industrial use and articles used for fuel. * * * * 16. Mineral oils of all sorts- (a) * * * (xii) Turkey red oil, bye- 2 paise per litre products of mineral oils * * * * (b) Crude oil 1 paisa per litre (c) Grease, petroleum jelly 2 per cent ad valorem * * * * B.-Articles used for lighting. * * * * 22. Oil-seeds of inedible oils 50 paise per 50 kilograms ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 6 of the said Act provides for imposition of levy and collection of taxes on the entry of every specified goods into Ca ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of this Court in the case of Avadh Sugar Mills Ltd. v. Sales Tax Officer [1973] 31 STC 469 wherein ground-nut has been taken as oil-seed for the purpose of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, has no bearing for the purpose of imposition of entry tax under the said Entry Tax Act, 1970, as it has been mentioned already hereinbefore that under item No. 4(t) "nuts" have been specifically mentioned as one of the specified goods for the imposition of entry tax. Once the goods answer the description of the item exigible to tax, the importer of such goods cannot escape liability depending on the use to which he puts. No question of speculating about the intention of the legislature arises when "nuts" are in term specified as goods which are exigible to tax and "groundnuts" fall under the description of "nuts". That groundnuts are nuts is not disputed nor disputable that it is not so. An extract from Encyclopaedia Britannica also leaves no room for doubt on this score and even the contention of the respondents is not that groundnuts are not "nuts" but that when the same are imported for extracting oil the same are not exigible to tax. Groundnuts are "nuts" whether the same are consumed as they are or ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y of which into Calcutta metropolitan area is subject to the levy of entry tax. This Act of 1972 was further amended in 1974 by West Bengal Act 19 of 1974. By the said Act it has been specifically mentioned in the Schedule to the Taxes on Entry of Goods into Calcutta Metropolitan Area Act, 1972, in serial No. 4, item No. (u), for the words "nuts excluding betel nuts" the words "nuts including groundnuts, cashewnuts and walnuts but excluding betel nuts" shall be, and shall be deemed always to have been, substituted. In other words, the words "nuts including groundnuts, cashewnuts and walnuts but excluding betel nuts" have been substituted retrospectively for the words "nuts excluding betel nuts" in item No. 4(u). This amendment is clarificatory in nature and makes explicit what was implicit out of abundant caution, and clearly puts an end to all controversies as to whether groundnut imported into Calcutta metropolitan area from outside is liable to imposition of entry tax. It makes patently clear that groundnut as one of the "nuts" was always subject to the imposition of entry tax under the said Entry Tax Act. The contention that groundnut imported into Calcutta metropolitan area fo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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