Statutory meaning of vegetable oil excludes rice bran oil under the oil development law definition.

Rice bran oil was held not to fall within the statutory expression "vegetable oil" because the Cess Act did not define that term and the Court read it in light of Section 3(h) of the Development Board Act and the legislation's object of supporting the oilseeds and vegetable oils industry. The Court treated rice bran as a milling by-product, noted that rice bran oil is obtained by solvent extraction, and relied on the fact that it is not fit for human consumption; on that basis, rice bran oil was excluded from the ambit of "vegetable oil" under the relevant definition, and the assessee succeeded.

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Issues: Whether rice bran oil falls within the expression "vegetable oil" for the purposes of the Vegetable Oil Cess Act, 1983 by reference to Section 3(h) of the National Oilseeds and Vegetable Oils Development Board Act, 1983.

Analysis: The expression "vegetable oil" was not defined in the Cess Act, so the Court looked to the definition in Section 3(h) of the Development Board Act. In construing that expression, the Court gave weight to the object of the legislation, namely to support development of the oilseeds and vegetable oils industry. It also noted that rice bran is a waste or by-product obtained in rice milling, that rice bran oil is extracted by solvent extraction, and that the oil is not fit for human consumption. On that basis, the Court agreed with the view that rice bran oil is not covered by the statutory expression "vegetable oil".

Conclusion: Rice bran oil does not fall within the ambit of "vegetable oil" under Section 3(h) of the National Oilseeds and Vegetable Oils Development Board Act, 1983, and the assessee succeeded.

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