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TMI Blog2008 (7) TMI 897X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... goods are mainly imported from outside the country and are sold in bulk. Return was filed assessing four per cent tax on the sale of sugar of milk in bulk in four quarters ending March 31, 2001 but the Commercial Tax Officer, Strand Road Charge, (respondent No. 1) completed the assessment of the petitioner for the said quarter on June 16, 2003 under section 45 of the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994 (in short, "the 1994 Act") where the sales of "sugar of milk" amounting to Rs. 36,62,568 were not allowed to be exigible to tax at four per cent only as an item specified in serial No. 24A of Schedule IV of 1994 Act on the ground that "sugar of milk" is not itself a homoeopathic medicine, but a vehicle of homoeopath ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... all substances and all devices for internal or external use of human being or animal or in the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of any disease or disorder and/or intended to affect the structure or any function of the human body and particularly all substances intended for use as components of a drug including empty gelatin capsules and as the above aspects of a drug have not been considered in any of the impugned orders those are required to be set aside and sugar of milk be regarded as a drug or at least as a component of a drug, i.e., the homoeopathic medicine as per serial No. 24A specified in Schedule IV of 1994 Act. It is also the argument of Mr. Dasgupta that at the material point of time "bulk drugs" were to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er centum as is done herein this case. However, the claim of four per cent tax by the petitioner is based on treating the item as homoeopathic medicine or drug or at least a constituent element of drug and the levy of tax at the rate of 10 per centum has been based on use of the item as a vehicle of homoeopathic medicine at best. Now there is no, and perhaps cannot be, any dispute that the term "sugar of milk" originates from the Latin words "saccharam" meaning sugar, and Lactis meaning milk and is prepared from goat's milk available in powder form and has no medicinal property of its own but is used mainly as a substance for preparation of homoeopathic medicines like mother tincture, mother solution and mother powde ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a drug unlike the respondents who have laid much emphasis on the use of that as a vehicle of medication of homoeopathic medicine and hence not a drug itself. To fortify his contention that sugar of milk itself has its drug value Mr. Dasgupta has cited and relied on preparation of different types of triturations like Trituration IC, 1x, 2x to show that sugar of milk is required as a component in preparing different types of homoeopathic medicines and has referred the relevant pages of the book Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of India (HPI). It appears therefrom that "saccharam lactis", i.e., sugar of milk is much required in preparation of different types of trituration having different drug strength for preparation of homoeopathic med ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ributors received 800 bags Lactose HMS sugar of milk from Netherlands worth Rs. 2,79,768 through the importerGerman Homoeopathic Distributors of New Delhi. It further appears that the Assistant Drugs Controller (India) of Delhi sent sample of the said goods, i.e., sugar of milk (HMS) before the Government Analyst, Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia Laboratory, Gaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, for test under rule 40 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules for comment on (a) composition, (b) grade, (c) whether goods can be used in homoeopathy or not and (d) use in homoeopathic medicine only or not and in its report dated December 13, 1990 it has been stated that the sample confirmed the prescribed composition in HPI and concluded that the product showed be used as ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f milk be treated as homoeopathic medicine as per the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and/ or at least as a reduced sugar and is exigible to only four per cent sales tax while the Revenue has treated it only as a vehicle of homoeopathic medicine and being not a medicine itself, is not covered under serial No. 24A of Schedule IV of the Act and being not an item under Schedule I and/ or Schedule VIIIA it is exigible to tax at 10 per cent as per the provision of section 17(1)(c) of the 1994 Act. In the foregoing discussions we have observed that sugar of milk is not only used as vehicle of medication of homoeopathic medicine but also used as an ingredient/element in preparation of trituration, a component of homoeopathic medicine, i.e., a subst ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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