Processed fruit beverages are not scheduled produce unless expressly included; market fee cannot be levied on distinct finished products.

Ready-to-serve fruit beverages made from mango pulp and apple concentrate were held not to fall within the scheduled commodities "mango" and "apple" under the Bihar Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1960. The levy was confined to agricultural produce expressly specified in the Schedule, and processed products could be taxed only where the statute or Schedule specifically included them. Applying ordinary commercial understanding, the finished beverages had acquired a distinct identity and were no longer known as the fruits themselves. The market fee demand was therefore without authority of law.

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Issues: Whether ready-to-serve fruit beverages manufactured from mango pulp and apple concentrate fall within the scheduled items "mango" and "apple" so as to attract market fee under the Bihar Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1960.

Analysis: The statutory levy under the Act is confined to agricultural produce specified in the Schedule. The definition in section 2(1)(a) operates with reference to scheduled items, and the scheme of the Schedule shows that where the legislature intended to include processed products, it did so expressly by naming such products separately. Applying the ordinary commercial understanding, the beverages manufactured after extensive processing were no longer known as mango or apple as fruits. Their basic ingredients may have been derived from those fruits, but the end-products had acquired a distinct identity and were not the scheduled commodities.

Conclusion: The beverages were not covered by the scheduled entries "mango" and "apple", and the demand for market fee was without authority of law.

Ratio Decidendi: A processed product is not chargeable as a scheduled agricultural produce unless the statute or Schedule specifically includes that processed commodity, and the commodity must be identified in its ordinary commercial sense.

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