TMI Blog1972 (5) TMI 48X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tax?" The assessee owns some tea gardens. The tea-leaves grown in the gardens are sold after being processed and packed. The assessee's contention is that the sale of such tea is exempt from sales tax. Under section 3, which is the charging section, it is the turnover for a year which is taxed. The term "turnover" has been defined in section 2(i) in the following words: "'Turnover' means the aggregate amount for which goods are supplied or distributed by way of sale or are sold, or the aggregate amount for which goods are bought, whichever is greater, by a dealer, either directly or through another, on his account or on account of others, whether for cash or deferred payment or other valuable consideration: Provided that the proceeds o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an agricultural produce. It follows, therefore, that the agricultural produce must be in a salable state and any process employed to make the produce salable would not alter its nature. Now, it is a matter of common knowledge that a large number of agricultural products are subjected to some kind of processing before they are fit for sale. Tobacco leaves are ordinarily dried to make them salable. Barley and paddy are dehusked before they are sold as barley and rice. Sometimes agricultural products grown in the original form are not sold in the same form. Tea-leaves when plucked from fields are green and perishable. There is no finding that tea-leaves in that state are marketable. In fact, in that state they are not tea at all. In order to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... arcoal for obtaining suitable flavour and colours. It is this final product which was eventually sold by the assessee." It is the contention of the department that after the tea-leaves are put through the process of drying and heating, tea-leaves are converted into loose tea. If the processing had stopped at this stage, the loose tea would be an agricultural produce. But the processing thereafter is commercial in nature and cannot be said to be an agricultural process. The short question, therefore, is as to whether grading and roasting of loose tea is a process which can be said to have changed the nature of the commodity. In our opinion, the process of grading and roasting is not materially different from the process through which tea-l ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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