Tea leaves taxable under sales tax law as statutory context, not commercial usage, governs the meaning of "tea".

Green tea leaves sold by the grower are taxable under the Travancore General Sales Tax Act because the statutory exclusion of agricultural or horticultural produce does not extend to tea. The term "tea" is read in its statutory context, not in the narrower commercial sense of manufactured tea, so tea leaves themselves, whether processed or unprocessed, fall within the taxable field. The definition of tea in the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 was not controlling because excise and sales tax operate under different schemes and are not in pari materia for this purpose. The challenge therefore fails.

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Issues: Whether green tea leaves sold by the grower are liable to sales tax under the Travancore General Sales Tax Act, XVIII of 1124, or whether the term "tea" in that Act refers only to manufactured tea.

Analysis: The Act excludes agricultural or horticultural produce grown by the dealer from turnover, but expressly provides that such produce shall not include tea. The word "tea" has to be read in its statutory context, and not in the narrower commercial sense of tea as a manufactured market commodity. The exclusion of tea from the category of agricultural produce shows that the Legislature intended tea leaves themselves, whether processed or unprocessed, to be treated as taxable. The definition of tea in the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944, was not treated as controlling because the excise levy is conceptually distinct from a sales tax and the two enactments are not in pari materia for this purpose.

Conclusion: Green tea leaves are liable to sales tax under the Act, and the petitioner's challenge fails.

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