Popular meaning of "vegetables" includes arrow-root, keeping it within the Third Schedule and outside higher-rate assessment.

Arrow-root was held to fall within the popular and commercial meaning of "vegetables" for Entry 10 of the Third Schedule to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963. Applying the ordinary understanding of the term in trade and common usage, the court treated arrow-root as a marketable food item grown in kitchen gardens and farms and used for human consumption. As a result, the Third Schedule applied, and the goods were entitled to the treatment attached to that schedule through Section 9, rather than assessment under Section 5A at a higher rate.

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Issues: Whether arrow-root is assessable as "vegetables" under Entry 10 of the Third Schedule to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, or falls for assessment under Section 5A at a higher rate.

Analysis: The expression "vegetables" in a taxing entry must be understood in its popular sense and in the sense in which it is commonly understood in trade and commerce. Applying that approach, arrow-root was held to answer the description of vegetables, being a marketable food item grown in the kitchen garden and in farms and used for human consumption. The entry in the Third Schedule therefore applied, and the exemption-like treatment attached to goods specified in that Schedule was attracted by virtue of Section 9 of the Act.

Conclusion: Arrow-root is vegetables within Entry 10 of the Third Schedule to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, and is not liable to assessment under Section 5A at the more onerous rate.

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