Welfare canteen sales are not turnover where the activity lacks commercial character and is run under a statutory obligation.

Sale proceeds from an employees' canteen run under a statutory welfare obligation did not constitute turnover under the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941. The court noted that "business" under section 2(1a) still requires a commercial activity in trade, commerce, manufacture, or an adventure in the nature of trade; absence of profit motive does not eliminate that basic requirement. Because the canteen was maintained under section 46 of the Factories Act, 1948, on a non-profit basis as a welfare measure, it was neither part of the assessee's manufacturing business nor an activity incidental or ancillary to its commercial trade. The canteen sales were therefore not taxable as turnover.

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Issues: Whether the sale proceeds from the canteen run by the assessee for the benefit of its employees formed part of the assessee's turnover liable to sales tax under the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941.

Analysis: The relevant definition of "business" in section 2(1a) of the Act, even as amended, requires a trade, commerce, manufacture, or an adventure or concern in the nature of trade, commerce, or manufacture; the absence of profit motive only removes the need to prove profit, but does not dispense with the basic requirement of a commercial activity. The canteen was maintained because of the statutory obligation under section 46 of the Factories Act, 1948, and under the applicable factory rules it was to be run on a non-profit basis. That activity was a welfare measure and not part of the assessee's commercial business of manufacturing and selling jute. It was neither the assessee's chartered business nor an activity incidental or ancillary to its trade in the commercial sense required by the sales tax law.

Conclusion: The canteen sales did not form part of the assessee's turnover and were not taxable under the Act.

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