TMI Blog1986 (10) TMI 316X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iya) " on wholesale basis on receiving the stock from Hyderabad. The taxing authority issued a notice under section 12(4) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act pursuant to which the petitioner produced the sale register, stock register, sale bills and stock transfer notes, et cetera, for examination of the assessing authority. The entire records produced by the petitioner were examined and the assessing officer found the gross turnover of the business at Rs. 5,08,129.33 and the taxable turnover at Rs. 4,88,585.90. The petitioner had paid sales tax on the taxable turnover at the rate of 4 per cent, but the assessing officer has calculated the tax at the rate of 8 per cent and, therefore, deducting the amount already paid, has directed the petitioner t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... xempted from tax as provided for under section 6 of the Orissa Sales Tax Act and List-B contains a list of goods which are subjected to purchase tax as provided for under section 3-13 of the said Act. We are, however, concerned in this case with the list of goods subjected to sales tax. In the said List, entry No. 1. is "atta, maida and suji" and the rate of tax as provided for is 4 per cent with effect from 1st April, 1982. Entry No. 13 is "cereals other than wheat, paddy, rice/broken rice, jowar, suan, gurji, kangu, ragi and maize" for which also the rate of tax provided for is 4 per cent. Mr. Pasayat, the learned counsel for the petitioner, contends that "vermicelli" or "semiya" is nothing but a preparation out of "maida" and, therefore, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... TC 583), under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, Schedule-A contained several items of goods which were exempted from payment of sales tax and entry No. 10 of the said Schedule was: "Cereals and pulses in all forms and flour including atta, maida, besan, suji and bran prepared therefrom, but excluding maize flour." and the rate of tax prescribed for these goods was 2 per cent, whereas the general rate of tax prevalent during the period was 4 per cent. The learned judges on looking to the notification under which several items of the genus "cereals" and "Pulses " came to the conclusion that the items included therein were merely illustrative and not exhaustive and all the said items belonged to the main genus namely "cereals" and, therefore, eve ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ued is used in a taxing statute or a notification issued thereunder, it should be understood in its commercial sense. In the case of Porritts Spencer (Asia) Ltd. v. State of Haryana [1978] 42 STC 433 (SC); AIR 1979 SC 300, the question for consideration was whether "dryer felts" fall within the category of "all varieties of cotton, woollen or silken textiles" specified in item 30 of Schedule-B of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948. Bhagwati, J., (as he then was) speaking for the Court, stated thus: "Now, the word textiles' is not defined in the Act, but it is well-settled as a result of several decisions of this Court, of which we may mention only a few, namely, Ramavatar Budhaiprasad v. Assistant Sales Tax Officer, Akola [1961] 12 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... we need refer only to the recent judgment of this Court in Porritts and Spencer (Asia) Ltd. v. State of Haryana [1978] 42 STC 433 (SC); AIR 1979 SC 300, in which reference has been made to some of them." Bearing in mind the aforesaid principles of construction we would examine the correctness of the alternative submission of Mr. Pasayat that "semiya" whether can be included under entry No. 1, namely, "atta, maida and suji". Mr. Pasayat relies on a Bench decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in the case of State of Andhra Pradesh v. Karnatakam Govindayya Setty and Sons [1984] 55 STC 160. No doubt, the aforesaid decision supports Mr. Pasayat's contention fully, but we are in respectful disagreement with the aforesaid view of the Andhra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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