Entry tax on raw material: "raw material" qualifies both consumption and use, not use alone.

Section 3(1)(b) of the M.P. Sthaniya Kshetra Me Mal Ke Pravesh Par Kar Adhiniyam, 1976 was interpreted to require that entry tax applies only when specified goods enter a local area for consumption or use as raw material, and not for sale there. The expression "raw material" was read as qualifying both "consumption" and "use", so mere consumption of goods was not enough by itself to attract the levy. The Tribunal's view that "raw material" qualified only "use" and not "consumption" was rejected.

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Issues: Whether, under section 3(1)(b) of the M.P. Sthaniya Kshetra Me Mal Ke Pravesh Par Kar Adhiniyam, 1976, the expression "raw material" qualifies only "use" and not "consumption".

Analysis: The provision imposes entry tax on the entry of specified goods into a local area in the course of business when such goods are for consumption or use as raw material, and not for sale therein. The Court read the clause to require that the entry must be for consumption as raw material or for use as raw material, and held that mere consumption is not enough to attract the levy. The Tribunal's view that "raw material" qualified only "use" and not "consumption" was rejected.

Conclusion: The Tribunal was not justified in holding that the expression "raw material" occurring in section 3(1)(b) qualified only the word "use" and not "consumption".

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