Agricultural machinery classification: chaff-cutters treated as farm implements, not residuary goods, under sales tax law.

Chaff-cutters were treated as agricultural machinery and implements for entry No. 12 of Schedule C under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, rather than goods falling in the residuary entry in Schedule E. The court accepted that the statutory meaning of agriculture aligned with its popular sense and that implements used by cultivators in agricultural life could qualify even if they also had other uses. Because the record showed subsidised supply to cultivators and governmental recognition of the implement, the assumption that chaff-cutters were mainly for dairy farming was rejected as unsupported.

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Issues: Whether chaff-cutters are agricultural machinery and implements covered by entry No. 12 of Schedule C of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, or whether they fall under the residuary entry in Schedule E.

Analysis: The definition of "agriculture" in section 2(1) of the Act was treated as consistent with the popular meaning of the term and as excluding dairy farming, but not excluding implements used by cultivators in agricultural life. The material on record showed that chaff-cutters were supplied to cultivators at subsidised rates and were recognised by the Government under entry No. 1 of Schedule A. The Tribunal's approach, based on the assumption that chaff-cutters were mainly designed for dairy farming, was held to be unsupported, because the implement was used to prepare fodder for cattle in agricultural settings and was not confined to dairy owners.

Conclusion: Chaff-cutters were held to be agricultural machinery and implements within entry No. 12 of Schedule C and not covered by the residuary entry.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered in favour of the dealer, and the impugned classification under the residuary entry was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: An implement commonly and substantially used by cultivators in agricultural operations, and recognised as such by the statutory scheme, falls within the agricultural-entry classification even if it may also have non-agricultural use; a strained assumption of predominant dairy use cannot displace that classification.

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