Schedule B goods excluded from purchase tax where sugarcane was purchased directly from growers under the taxing statute.

Purchase tax could not be levied on sugarcane bought directly from growers because sugarcane was treated as agricultural produce covered by Schedule B. The court applied the plain language of section 4B of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948, and held that goods specifically placed in Schedule B fall outside the purchase-tax charge. The argument that the Schedule B entry exempted only the grower, not the purchaser, was rejected because the statutory scheme excluded such goods generally from purchase tax. The assessment was therefore unsustainable, and recovery of purchase tax was barred.

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Issues: Whether purchase tax was leviable on sugarcane purchased directly from growers when sugarcane fell within agricultural produce specified in Schedule B.

Analysis: Section 4B of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 levied purchase tax only on goods other than those specified in Schedule B. Entry No. 39 of Schedule B covered agricultural or horticultural produce sold by a person or a member of his family grown by him or grown on land in which he had an interest. Sugarcane was treated as agricultural produce, and the court applied the plain and grammatical meaning of the provision, holding that goods specifically placed in Schedule B were outside the purchase-tax charge. The argument that the entry exempted only the grower and not the purchaser was rejected because the statutory scheme made Schedule B goods generally exempt from purchase tax under section 4B.

Conclusion: Purchase tax was not leviable on the sugarcane purchases made directly from growers, and the assessment order was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded, and the impugned assessment was quashed with a direction against recovery of purchase tax for the relevant assessment year.

Ratio Decidendi: Goods expressly included in Schedule B of the taxing statute are excluded from purchase tax under section 4B, and the charge cannot be extended by implication contrary to the plain language of the enactment.

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