TMI Blog1990 (3) TMI 328X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , factually "paper" was "thin board" and "board" was "thick paper". Having regard to the language used in the entry, "paper" included "board". There was not much difference between the manufacturing process of various types of boards such as straw board, grey board, mill board. There was a golden thread visible through a number of decisions given by the Commissioner of Sales Tax relied upon by the assessee's counsel which also suggested that the sweep of entry 24 was that it included all types of "paper" and all types of "board". For this purpose the Tribunal derived support from this Court's judgment in the case of Commissioner of Sales Tax v. Sultan Shev Co. [1977] 40 STC 583. The Tribunal lastly observed that had the intention of legislature been to restrict the scope of entry 24(2), the word "and " would have been used after the words "sand paper" and before "different kinds of board". 2.. The Tribunal has referred to this Court identical question of law in the two proceedings. The question reads thus: "Whether, on the facts and circumstances of this case and on a true and proper interpretation of entry 24(2) of Schedule C, was the Tribunal correct in law in holding that 'm ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pril 1, 1963, the legislature brought paper of all kinds including certain types of boards under entry 24. The changes effected with effect from September 1, 1969 and December 1, 1971, are not very significant inasmuch as "sand paper" excluded from the entry on September 1, 1969, was included in it on December 1, 1971. Through the division of the entry on October 1, 1972, into sub-entries (1) and (2), the legislative intention appeared to be to specify costly kinds of "paper" in sub-entry (1) and to make sub-entry (2) as a residuary entry for paper of all other kinds including four or five kinds of boards. However, entry 24 before its bifurcation from October 1, 1972 and thereafter as sub-entry (2) remained substantially the same, the only difference being that the word "other" was inserted between the words "paper of all" and "kinds" in the entry. For this difference there appears to be a good reason, viz., since subentry (1) referred to costly kinds of paper the sale of which was liable to higher rate of sales tax, the use of word "other" in sub-entry (2) indicated that the "paper" referred to in sub-entry (2) was also a kind of paper other than referred to in sub-entry (1). 5.. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mining the rate of levy under the Sales Tax Act. 8.. It is pertinent to mention that the question as regards meaning of the word "paper" came up for consideration before the Supreme Court in the case of Collector of Central Excise v. Krishna Carbon Paper Co., [1989] 72 STC 280. It was observed: "It is well-settled that where no definition is provided in the statute itself for ascertaining the correct meaning of a fiscal entry, reference to a dictionary is not always safe. The correct guide in such a case is the context and the trade meaning. The trade meaning is that which is prevalent in that particular trade where such goods are known or traded. If a special type of goods is the subject-matter of a fiscal entry, then that entry must be understood in the context of that particular trade, bearing in mind that particular word. Where, however, there is no evidence how the particular goods are understood in the particular market dealing with those goods, then the meaning following from the particular statute at the particular time would be the decisive test." In its other decision in Ramavatar Budhaiprasad v. Assistant Sales Tax Officer [1961] 12 STC 286 also, the Supreme Court ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... king, or for drawing on, or for decorating, or covering the walls. Besides what was stated in the assessee's application dated April 17, 1971, under section 52 of the Act as regards the use of "mill board", on seeing the sample of "mill board" which was enclosed with the application (produced before the court by the counsel for the department at the behest of the court), we are inclined to hold that "mill board" manufactured by the assessee is nothing but a thick and rough paper which can be used for packing as well as for use as cover for the exercise-books and/or paperback publications. We, thus, agree with the Tribunal that "mill board" is a kind of paper falling under entry 24 and/or 24(2) as the case may be. 10.. In Commissioner of Sales Tax v. Adarsh Paper and Board Manufacturing Company [1987] 65 STC 243, the Allahabad High Court held in so many words that the expression "all kinds of paper" covered "mill board". No doubt as pointed out by Shri Thakore, the High Court had derived support from the facts that the Tribunal had in that case recorded a finding that "mill board" was used for printing, drawing, packing, for file covers and for various other purposes and that in t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the present that the items "strawboard, cardboard and duplex and triplex boards" following the expressions "including sand paper" in the sub-entry are exhaustive and not illustrative, the fact cannot be overlooked that the legislature did not mention the four kind of boards in the sub-entry with a prefix "and". If that was done, there would have been no ambiguity that the four kinds of board are not the same kind of a thing which could be treated as covered by the expression "all other kinds of paper". Nor has the legislature used the expression "means and includes" or "meaning and including" which again would have set the controversy at rest and made the entry exhaustive. The normal function of the word "including" in an entry, to our mind, is to indicate that the items following the word "including" are though of the type of the main item in the entry, there could be some doubt as to whether the main entry covered them or not and, therefore, the legislature specifically mentioned those items in the entry to remove scope for any doubt. In other words, the items so included with the prefix "including" would be of the type about which there could be some doubt as to whether they a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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