Strict construction of taxing entry excludes chuni from cattle feed classification, defeating entry tax liability.

"Chuni", a by-product of pulses used in cattle feed, was held not to fall within Entry 66 as cattle feed for entry tax purposes because the charging entry had to be construed strictly. The Orissa HC treated chuni as husk or dal by-product rather than a finished marketable cattle-feed product, and declined to apply a liberal interpretation drawn from exemption cases to enlarge the scope of the taxing entry. Section 26 reinforced that only a finished product was taxable, and the trade parlance test also pointed away from treating plain chuni as cattle feed. The revision petitions were dismissed, leaving the assessee outside entry tax liability.

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Issues: Whether "chuni", being a by-product of pulses and an ingredient used in cattle feed, is itself "cattle feed" within Entry 66 of Part-I of the Schedule to the Orissa Entry Tax Act, 1999 and therefore liable to entry tax.

Analysis: The entry taxing cattle feed had to be construed strictly, since the statute fastened liability only on goods falling within the scheduled entry. "Chuni" was found to be only husk or a by-product of dal, not a finished product sold in the market as cattle feed. The Court distinguished decisions on exemption notifications, noting that a liberal construction applicable to exemptions cannot be inverted for enlarging a charging entry. Section 26 of the Act reinforced that only a finished product was amenable to entry tax. On the trade parlance test also, plain chuni would not be understood as cattle feed.

Conclusion: "Chuni" is not cattle feed under Entry 66 and is not amenable to entry tax. The revision petitions were dismissed, with the result in favour of the assessee.

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