Poultry feed made from broken wheat is a distinct commodity and not automatically exempt as wheat.

Poultry feed prepared from broken wheat with other ingredients was treated as a distinct manufactured commodity, not as wheat or a foodgrain eligible for exemption. The exemption for foodgrains did not automatically extend to a product made from them unless that product was specifically covered by the tax-free entry. The later insertion of poultry feed as a separate tax-free item reinforced that it was regarded as distinct from wheat. The petitioner therefore failed to show that the commodity sold fell within the existing exemption provisions under the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948.

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Issues: Whether poultry feed prepared from broken wheat with other ingredients was exempt from sales tax as wheat or as a tax-free item under the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948.

Analysis: The claim for exemption was rejected because the material on record showed that the poultry feed was not merely broken wheat. The assessing authority found that wheat formed only a small part of the finished product and that other ingredients were used to create a separate manufactured commodity. The court held that exemption granted to foodgrains did not extend to products manufactured from them unless the product itself was specifically exempt. The later insertion of item 71 in Schedule B, declaring poultry feed tax-free, also indicated that poultry feed was treated as a distinct item and not as wheat or foodgrain.

Conclusion: Poultry feed was held to be a commodity distinct from wheat and was not exempt from sales tax under the existing exemption provisions.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition failed because the petitioner could not establish that the sold commodity fell within the tax-free entries applicable to wheat or foodgrains.

Ratio Decidendi: An exemption for a raw material does not automatically extend to a manufactured product made from that material unless the product itself is specifically brought within the exemption entry.

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