TMI Blog1985 (7) TMI 337X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Board of Revenue, Ajmer ("the Board" herein). The Division Bench of the Board, by its order dated 16th February, 1979, rejected the revision holding that gowar churi is fodder and as such exempt from the payment of tax according to entry 9 of the Schedule. We may read the material part of the order of the Board dated 16th February, 1979: "We are of the opinion that gowar churi is used mostly for cattle feed purposes. Gowar has perhaps been deleted from the totally exempted items of fodder from the payment of tax under section 4(1) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act as it is also used as raw material for preparation of gum which is a commercial item. The intention of the legislature for exempting pulses and fodder is to give relief to the consumers and agriculturists. As has been certified by the different firms and is well-known, gowar churi cannot be used for any other purposes and as has been held in the above-referred two cases the best test for considering any item as fodder is the extensive use to which that commodity is put to." The Commercial Taxes Officer (Revisions), Ajmer, filed an application under section 15(1) of the Act referring the question of law arising out of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... other hand, Mr. Rajendra Mehta, the learned counsel for the dealer-assessee, strenuously contended, while supporting the order of the Board, that gowar churi is used as cattle feed and is not included in the word "gowar" and so no sales tax is payable on the sale or purchase of gowar churi in accordance with entry 9 as it stood at the relevant time. We have given our most anxious and thoughtful consideration to the rival contentions of the learned counsel for the parties. In this connection, we shall consider the meaning of "gowar" as used in entry 9, as is understood by the dealer when it sells it and by the purchaser when he purchases it. In other words, what is the meaning of the word "gowar", as commonly understood by persons dealing in that commodity. It was ruled in Annapurna Carbon Industries Co. v. State of A.P. [1976] 37 STC 378 (SC), while construing entry No. 4 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act (Act No. 6 of 1957), that for determining the meaning of a particular commodity the deciding factor is the predominant or ordinary purpose or use. The question that cropped up in Delhi Cloth and General Mills Co. Ltd. v. State of Rajasthan [1980] 46 STC 256 (SC) before ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to their commercial sense." It will serve no useful purpose to multiply the authorities, as the position appears to have well-settled and there appears to be no room for any debate whatsoever, that if the term has not been defined under the Sales Tax Act, the common parlance meaning or common sense meaning should be given to it having regard to the persons who deal in that. In entry 9, gowar has been specifically mentioned. Gowar has not been defined anywhere in the Act. The question involved in Maman Chand Kundan Lal v. State of Haryana [1970] 25 STC 458 was whether gram chhilka was gram husk or fodder and so was exempt from the liability of sales tax under the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 (No. 46 of 1948). It was held that gram chhilka is exempt from payment of sales tax. It was observed in Express Dairy Company Limited v. Assessing Authority [1971] 28 STC 37 by the Punjab and Haryana High Court as under: "It is, thus, clear that the 'guar giri' or the 'guar meal' produced by the petitioners cannot be termed as flour of 'guara' as it is a pulverised substance, which is not in the fine powder form. It is a substance in the form of small crystals and is not produced ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ll alone; gowar has been specifically excluded from cattle feeds. It is common ground between the parties that it is gowar, which has been excluded from exemption as "cattle feeds". But the dispute, as stated above, is whether gowar churi is the very same thing as gowar as finds mention in entry 9 of the Schedule. It is also not disputed that gowar churi is cattle feed though it is derivative or product of gowar. It is altogether a different product; when purchase and sale of gowar churi take place, dealers who do its business do not mean gowar as such. The ordinary purpose or use of gowar churi is not the very same as that of gowar. Common parlance meaning or commercial sense meaning of gowar and "gowar churi" is not the same and as such exclusion of gowar in entry 9 does not mean exclusion of gowar churi. Dealer (non-petitioner No. 1) has purchased gowar as raw material and therefore has not paid any sales tax at the time of purchase. As soon as from gowar gum is manufactured then, under the Schedule, it is liable to payment of tax. As gowar churi can be used for no other purpose except as cattle feed, the Board was justified in holding that entry 9, while excluding gowar, does ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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