Taxing notification covering whole, ground and powdered spices treats powder as the same commodity, not a separate taxable good.

A taxing notification that expressly covers pepper in whole, broken, ground, powdered or any other form treats pepper powder as the same commodity as whole pepper, so it is not separately exigible to sales tax. The same reasoning applied to turmeric, because the notifications placed turmeric in the same notified category and linked the later notification to the earlier one, indicating no intention to treat turmeric powder as a distinct good. On that construction, the revenue's claim to tax the powdered forms did not survive.

---

---

Issues: Whether pepper powder and turmeric powder obtained from whole pepper and whole turmeric are the same goods as the whole commodities and, therefore, not separately exigible to sales tax under the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1954.

Analysis: The relevant notifications issued under Section 25 and Section 4 of the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1954 treated black and white pepper and turmeric as notified commodities, describing pepper as whole, broken, ground, powdered or in any other form, and linking the later notification to the earlier one. On the facts, pepper is used both in whole and powdered form in ordinary trade and consumption, and the description in the notifications showed no intention to treat the powder as a different commodity. Turmeric, though not identical on the functional test in the same way as pepper, was placed in the same notified category and similarly linked in the later notification, supporting the conclusion that turmeric powder also remained the same commodity.

Conclusion: Pepper powder and turmeric powder are the same goods as whole pepper and whole turmeric for the purpose of the notifications and are not separately taxable on sale by the appellant.

Final Conclusion: The sales tax liability claimed by the Revenue on the powdered forms did not survive, and the appeal succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a taxing notification expressly includes a commodity in whole, broken, ground, powdered or any other form, the commodity in its powdered form is not a different good and remains within the same taxable entry.

---