TMI Blog1969 (11) TMI 89X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tes, the dates on which the printed material was delivered. THE petitioner was assessed to sales-tax for the entire amount he received both for the sale of paper and for printing charges. The petitioner disputed the levy; and the matter came to this Court once. This Court remanded the case for fresh consideration indicating that the petitioner would be liable to sales-tax only if what he delivered to his customers the printed material was paper product . After the remand, the Tribunal considered the matter afresh and held that what the petitioner delivered to his customers was paper product. It is the correctness of this decision that is being challenged in this revision case. 2. At the very outset, we may observe that there is some inc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e transaction will not be taxable either. The second mode of looking at the question is to treat the contract as really two contracts, one for the supply of paper and the other a contract for printing. Then, the first contract for the supply of paper will involve a sale of goods and that is taxable too. But, in the case before us, paper is taxable only at the first sale point; and the petitioner's sale not being the first sale, is not taxable. Therefore, even if the transaction is to be viewed in this manner, even then the sale of paper cannot be taxed. And the money received as printing charges cannot also be taxed, because that involves no sale of goods and the receipt of the amount is only a payment for the printing work done by the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aning of the expression paper product . Paper evidently has two meanings, one a restricted meaning and other a wider or extended meaning. paper is not defined in the Sales-tax Act; and therefore, the word has to be given the meaning it has in common parlance or in popular language, i. e., the word must be understood in the sense in which people conversant with the subject-matter of the statute understand it (vide Ramavathar Budhaiprasad v. The Assistant sales-tax Officer, Akola'. 12 STC. 286 Supreme Court). The Shorter Oxford english Dictionary says that paper is a substance composed of fibres interlaced into a compact web, made from linen and cotton rags, straw, wood, certain grasses, etc. , which are macerated into a pulp, dried a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... not in any wider or special connotation. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines product , inter alia, as that which is produced by any action, operation, or work . If this meaning of the word product is applied to the case before us, it may certainly be said that the printed material is a product ; it is a product of the action, operation, or work the printing. But, can it be said that the printed material is a product of paper? Obviously the answer must be no. . If a renowned artist (painter) executes one of his masterpieces on a piece of paper, can it be said that the picture is a product of paper? Can it be said that the painting is a product of the paint used by the artist? The obvious answer that strikes anybody must b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... otice and on which some reliance was also placed. The petitioner in that case executed job works as printer; and he was taxed on the amounts received by him in consideration for such works. Our learned brother held that the execution of works done by a printer did not involve any sale , nor did the charges received by him constitute turnover . In the course of the judgment the learned judge discussed the question as to what was meant by the expression paper product . The learned judge observed: it is doubtful whether a printed matter or exercise book or ledger book is a product of paper. In these cases, the sale of exercise books, ledger books, printed forms, etc. has been taxed at 5 per cent of the turnover as products of paper. The pet ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... guments before us that for paper to become a paper product the main characteristic or the main utility of paper must be lost and a new characteristic or a new utility is acquired. The main characteristic or utility of paper is to be printed upon, to be drawn upon to be written upon, etc. , and if by some process (action, operation, or work) that characteristic or utility is lost and the product acquired some other characteristic or utility, then the product is a product of paper so the argument has proceeded. For example, (as it is now common) if ice-cream tumblers are made out of paper, the tumblers are paper products: similarly, i cartons are made out of paper, or bags are made out of paper they may also be paper products. Still, the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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