Tax exemption turns on whether processed imported raw sugar became a different commodity, not on prior duty incidence.

Exemption under the Third Schedule depended on whether refined white sugar made in India from imported raw sugar answered the statutory description of the goods after processing, not on whether additional excise duty had actually been borne. Because the assessing authority had not examined whether the raw sugar was transformed into a different commercial commodity, the rejection of exemption could not stand and the matter was remitted for fresh consideration. The Court also held that an alternative appellate remedy was not an absolute bar to writ jurisdiction, so the writ petition was maintainable and could be entertained in an appropriate case.

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Issues: (i) Whether refined white sugar manufactured in India out of imported raw sugar was entitled to exemption under Item 1, Part A of the Third Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, and whether the levy under Entry 61, Part B of the First Schedule was attracted; (ii) Whether the writ petition could be entertained despite the availability of an alternative appellate remedy.

Issue (i): Whether refined white sugar manufactured in India out of imported raw sugar was entitled to exemption under Item 1, Part A of the Third Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, and whether the levy under Entry 61, Part B of the First Schedule was attracted.

Analysis: The exemption scheme under the Third Schedule was held to turn on whether the goods were produced or manufactured in India and answered the description adopted from the First Schedule to the Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance) Act, 1957. The Court held that the focus was on identification of the goods by statutory description, not on whether additional excise duty had in fact been suffered. Imported sugar sold as such would attract the First Schedule entry for imported sugar, but where imported raw sugar was subjected to manufacturing processes and became a different commercial commodity, the nature of the transaction required fresh consideration on the basis of the actual processes and the Bureau of Indian Standards specifications.

Conclusion: The assessment rejecting exemption could not stand without examining whether the imported raw sugar had been transformed into a different commodity; the matter required reconsideration by the assessing authority.

Issue (ii): Whether the writ petition could be entertained despite the availability of an alternative appellate remedy.

Analysis: The Court held that the existence of an alternative remedy is not an absolute bar to writ jurisdiction and that Article 226 of the Constitution of India can be invoked in appropriate cases. In the present case, the assessment order was set aside and the dispute was remitted for fresh consideration notwithstanding the appellate remedy.

Conclusion: The writ petition was maintainable and could be entertained despite the alternative remedy.

Final Conclusion: The impugned assessment was set aside and the matter was sent back for fresh consideration on the taxability and exemption claim relating to refined sugar manufactured from imported raw sugar.

Ratio Decidendi: For exemption under a schedule adopting another enactment's description of goods, the decisive question is whether the goods answer that statutory description after their actual manufacture or processing, and not whether they have suffered a particular duty incidence under the borrowing enactment.

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