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TMI Blog1974 (12) TMI 67X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... this court challenging the Levy of tax of tobacco seeds contending that tobacco seeds is an item exempted from tax in as much as it falls within the expression "tobacco and all its products" in item 7 of Schedule 4 to the Sales Tax Act which contains Items of goods exempted from the levy of sales tax under the Sales Tax Act. This Court by a decision of a Bench dated 11-3-1970 in writ petitions Nos 1445 to 1458 of 1960 and batch reported in Amara Purushotham Mammidi Obaiah & Co. v. State of Andhra Pradesh - (1972) 29 STC 654 (Andhra Pradesh) declared that the levy of tax on tobacco seeds is illegal as tobacco seed comes within the expression "tobacco products" and hence tobacco seed is an Item declared by Schedule 4 as an exempted Item from ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Act after its amendment is the one assigned to it in Item 4 of first Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act 1944, which reads as follow :- "Tobacco" means any form of tobacco, whether cured or uncured and whether manufactured or not, and includes the lead stalks and stems of the tobacco plant, but does not include any part of a tobacco plant while still attached to the earth. 5. Thus, "tobacco" defined as above is the tobacco now entitled for exemption in Item 7 of Schedule 4 to the Sales Tax Act, 1957. Therefore the question for consideration is whether "tobacco seed" comes within the above definition to claim exemption. 6. The argument of Sri Babul Reddy learned counsel for the petitioners is that the definition of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gislature thought of amending old Item 7 in Schedule 4 to the Sales Tax Act to exclude tobacco products like tobacco seed from the exemption. With that view, in Item 7, the expression "tobacco" was substituted for the expression "tobacco" and all its products" and therefore in this view of the matter it must be taken that parts of tobacco plant except those specifically mentioned in the definition of the word `tobacco' given in the Central Excises and Salt Act were not intended to be exempted from the tax. Therefore "tobacco seed" not having been mentioned in the definition must be taken as not exempted from the levy of sales tax. 8. In the statement of objects and reasons appended to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax (Amendme ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... leaves, stalks and stems are mentioned in the definition they can be taken only as intending to be illustrative and not exhaustive." If in giving that definition the legislature intended that those parts of the tobacco plant, namely leaves, stalks and stems only come under the definition of the expression "tobacco" and not the other parts of it, the legislature would have said as "and means the leaves, stalks and stems" instead of saying "and including, leaves, stalks and stems". In the Bench decision of this Court referred to above, the learned Judges also happened to consider this definition given to the word "tobacco" to the Central Excises and Salt Act. In considering that definition their Lordships observed that - '`It is true that no ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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