Strict construction of tax exemptions: raab gur fails as gur but qualifies as cattle feed for exemption.

Strict construction governs exemption entries under the Assam General Sales Tax Act, 1993, so regulatory definitions of gur could not be imported to enlarge entry 17. On that basis, raab gur was held not to fall within gur and not exempt under that entry. By contrast, cattle feed was treated as a class determined by actual use, and raab gur was found to be used as cattle feed without any statutory restriction to a particular form or commodity. It therefore fell within entry 50 and was exempt on that basis. The commentary states that tax could not be levied where the commodity matched the plain scope of the cattle-feed exemption.

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Issues: (i) Whether raab gur is to be treated as gur and exempt under entry 17 of Schedule I of the Assam General Sales Tax Act, 1993; (ii) Whether raab gur, being used as cattle feed, is exempt under entry 50 of Schedule I of the Assam General Sales Tax Act, 1993.

Issue (i): Whether raab gur is to be treated as gur and exempt under entry 17 of Schedule I of the Assam General Sales Tax Act, 1993.

Analysis: The exemption entry must be construed strictly, and definitions in control or regulatory orders could not be imported into the sales tax statute unless the enactments are pari materia. The cited gur orders were held to be for movement and regulation, not for determining the scope of tax exemption under the Assam General Sales Tax Act, 1993. The presence of molasses as a separate exempt item in the same schedule also indicated that all forms of gur were not intended to be covered by entry 17.

Conclusion: Raab gur is not the same as gur for the purpose of entry 17 and is not exempt on that basis.

Issue (ii): Whether raab gur, being used as cattle feed, is exempt under entry 50 of Schedule I of the Assam General Sales Tax Act, 1993.

Analysis: Cattle feed was accepted as a class of goods determined by its known and actual use. The record did not dispute that raab gur is used as cattle feed, and the mere fact that it may have other uses did not deprive it of that character. The end use principle was applied as a relevant criterion for classification, and the statute contained no restriction limiting cattle feed to any particular commodity or form.

Conclusion: Raab gur is covered by entry 50 as cattle feed and is exempt from tax on that basis.

Final Conclusion: The writ petitions succeeded because raab gur was not exempt as gur, but it was exempt as cattle feed, so tax could not be levied on it under the Act.

Ratio Decidendi: In a tax exemption statute, a commodity is exempt only if it falls within the plain scope of the exempting entry, but where the commodity is established to be used as cattle feed, exemption follows under the cattle-feed entry notwithstanding that it may have other uses.

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