Sales tax exemption for mineral water denied where the statutory notification expressly excluded bottled and sealed-container supplies.

Mineral water could be broadly understood as falling within "soft drink" for classification purposes, but the administrative classification was not disturbed. Sales tax exemption could be claimed only if supported by a notification issued under section 6 of the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947, and the Industrial Policy Resolution by itself did not confer enforceable exemption. The relevant exemption entry covered water but expressly excluded aerated water and mineral water sold in bottles or sealed containers, so the court could not enlarge the exemption by judicial direction. The writ petitioner was therefore not entitled to sales tax exemption, and the challenge to the impugned communication failed.

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Issues: Whether mineral water was entitled to sales tax exemption as a unit manufacturing soft drink, and whether the Court could direct exemption in the absence of a notification under the governing sales tax law.

Analysis: Mineral water was found capable of falling within the expression "soft drink" on a broad construction, and the Court declined to interfere with the administrative classification. Independently, the Court held that any benefit under the Industrial Policy Resolution could be availed only if supported by a notification issued under section 6 of the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947. The relevant exemption entry covered water but expressly excluded aerated water and mineral water sold in bottles or sealed containers, and the Court could not enlarge the statutory exemption by judicial direction.

Conclusion: The writ petitioner was not entitled to sales tax exemption for mineral water sold in bottles or sealed containers, and the challenge to the impugned communication failed.

Final Conclusion: The exemption claim was unsustainable in the absence of a supporting statutory notification, so the writ petition stood dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: Tax exemption can be claimed only within the limits of the relevant statutory notification, and the Court cannot extend an exemption beyond the express terms of the taxing statute and notification.

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