Cooked food exemption applies to chhana where boiling is an integral part of its preparation.

Chhana was treated as cooked food under Item 7 of the Schedule to the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 because boiling milk was an integral step in its preparation. The addition of acid after boiling did not remove the cooking element, and the fact that further processing was needed to complete the product did not change its character. On the admitted facts, chhana was a recognised milk food falling within the exemption, so it was not liable to sales tax and the assessment order was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether chhana is cooked food within Item 7 of the Schedule to the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 and therefore exempt from sales tax.

Analysis: The determination turned on the meaning of cooking and the nature of the preparation process. Boiling milk forms part of the preparation of chhana, and the subsequent addition of acid does not negate the cooking element already involved in the process. The mere fact that further steps are required to obtain chhana from boiled milk does not alter the character of the preparation as cooking. On the admitted facts, chhana is a well-known form of milk food, and there was no basis to hold that it fell outside the exemption for cooked food.

Conclusion: Chhana is cooked food and is exempt from sales tax under Item 7 of the Schedule to the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941.

Final Conclusion: The assessment order was unsustainable and was set aside, with the writ petition succeeding.

Ratio Decidendi: A food product remains cooked food if boiling is an integral step in its preparation, even though additional non-heat processes are used thereafter to complete the product.

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