Fresh fish exemption covers baby fish sold for rearing in fish farms under the sales tax schedule.

Baby fish sold to fish farms was held to fall within entry 18 of the Third Schedule to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 as fresh fish, so it qualified for sales tax exemption. The interpretation of the schedule was taken as a whole, and the legislative pattern showed that exemptions were not confined to items used as human food or for final consumption. The presence of exemptions for marine products and nursery plants, seedlings, suckers and seeds supported treating baby fish intended for rearing as exempt rather than as a taxable residuary item. The revision failed.

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Issues: Whether baby fish sold to fish farms falls within entry 18 of the Third Schedule to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 and is entitled to exemption from sales tax as fresh fish.

Analysis: Entry 18 exempts dried fish and fresh fish. The expression was read in the context of the Schedule as a whole and the legislative pattern of exempting items connected with cultivation and rearing. Entry 37 exempts marine products without restricting the exemption to items sold for consumption, and entry 39 exempts nursery plants, seedlings, suckers and seeds used for raising crops, showing that the Legislature did not intend to confine exemptions only to food use or final consumption. Baby fish sold for rearing in fish farms is not to be treated as a taxable residuary item merely because it is not ordinarily used as human food.

Conclusion: Baby fish falls within entry 18 of the Third Schedule to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 and is entitled to exemption from sales tax. The revision fails.

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