Sales tax classification of appalam as food upheld, with ordinary packet sale satisfying the statutory packing requirement.

Appalam was treated as a food item for sales tax purposes because it is an edible article made from pulse or flour-based ingredients, bringing it within entry 103 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959. The limited nourishment value of the product did not prevent classification as food, and the entry was not confined to articles used for medicinal or ancillary purposes. For the pre-10 October 1979 version of entry 103, the statutory packing condition was satisfied by ordinary sale in packets; watertight or health-regulatory packing was not required. The levy was therefore sustained.

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Issues: (i) Whether appalam falls within entry 103 of the First Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 as a food item. (ii) Whether the pre-October 10, 1979 version of entry 103 required the assessee's product to be sold in packets and whether that requirement was satisfied.

Issue (i): Whether appalam falls within entry 103 of the First Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 as a food item.

Analysis: The entry covered food including preparations of cereals, flour and similar ingredients. Appalam was treated as a product made out of pulse or flour-based ingredients and, therefore, as an edible article capable of being regarded as food for the purpose of the taxing entry. The reasoning rejected the attempt to exclude it merely because its nourishment value may be limited, distinguishing articles like arrow-root powder that are normally used for medicinal or ancillary purposes.

Conclusion: Appalam was rightly treated as a food item falling within entry 103, and the levy was upheld in favour of Revenue.

Issue (ii): Whether the pre-October 10, 1979 version of entry 103 required the assessee's product to be sold in packets and whether that requirement was satisfied.

Analysis: Under the relevant version of entry 103, the taxable food items had to be tinned, canned, bottled or packed. The requirement was understood as ordinary packing for sale and not as watertight packing or compliance with health-regulatory standards. The record showed that the appalam was sold in packets, and that factual requirement stood admitted. For the later amended version, the packing condition was not material.

Conclusion: The packing requirement was satisfied for the relevant period, and no error was found in the assessment.

Final Conclusion: The levy under entry 103 was sustained for both revisions, and the petitions were rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: For sales tax classification, an edible article made from flour or pulse ingredients may be treated as food under the relevant taxing entry, and the statutory packing requirement is satisfied by sale in packets without importing a stricter health-law standard.

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