Ordinary meaning of "sugar factory" extended exemption to khandasari sugar manufacture under the notification.

Where a taxing statute and exemption notification do not define "sugar" or "sugar factory", those expressions are construed in their ordinary and widest sense. On that reading, a khandasari sugar factory falls within the notification issued for sugar factories, because the text did not confine the exemption to any narrower category of sugar manufacture. The refusal to extend the exemption was therefore not justified, and the purchase tax exemption applied for the notified period, with relief granted by mandamus.

---

---

Issues: Whether a khandasari sugar manufacturer was entitled to claim exemption from purchase tax under the notification issued for sugar factories during May and June 1978.

Analysis: The words "sugar" and "sugar factory" were not defined in the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957. The charging provision in section 25-B of the Act treated purchase tax on sugarcane as applicable at the point of purchase, while the Fifth Schedule, entry 31-B, exempted sugar other than sugar-candy, confectionery and the like. In the absence of a statutory definition, the expression had to be understood in its ordinary and widest sense, and the notification also used the expression "sugar factories" without restriction. On that basis, the term covered factories manufacturing all types of sugar, including khandasari sugar.

Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to the benefit of the exemption notification, and the refusal to extend the exemption was not justified.

Final Conclusion: The purchase tax exemption applied to the petitioner's khandasari sugar factory for the notified period, and relief was granted by mandamus.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a taxing statute or exemption notification does not define "sugar" or "sugar factory", the expression must be construed in its ordinary and widest sense, so as to include all types of sugar manufacture unless the text clearly limits the exemption.

---