Broiler rearing qualifies as manufacture under sales tax law where preparing goods for market is included in the statutory definition.

Section 2(j) of the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act was construed broadly to include not only the creation of a commercially new article, but also any process of producing, collecting, extracting, preparing or making goods. On that reading, rearing chicks until they become marketable broilers was treated as a process of preparing goods for the market and therefore as manufacture. The Court also noted that the term "goods" in the definition section must carry the same meaning throughout the Act. The appellants were entitled to the statutory benefit flowing from that classification.

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Issues: Whether rearing chicks into marketable broilers amounts to "manufacture" under section 2(j) of the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1958.

Analysis: The definition of "manufacture" in section 2(j) is expressed in wide terms and includes any process or manner of producing, collecting, extracting, preparing or making goods. The definition is not confined to the narrow concept of bringing into existence a commercially new article. Since the statutory definition includes preparation of goods, the activity of rearing chicks until they become marketable broilers is a process of preparing goods for the market. The word "goods" in the definition section must receive the same meaning throughout the Act.

Conclusion: Rearing chicks into broilers is manufacture within section 2(j), and the appellants were entitled to the benefit flowing from that conclusion.

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