1968 (8) TMI 167

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....les Tax, under section 44 of the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1958 (2 of 1959), hereinafter called the Act, in the negative: "Whether the chaff-cutter (kutti-ki-machine) comes under item (12) 'mowers' of Notification No. 736-3694-V-SR dated April 1, 1959, issued by the State Government as laid down in item 1 of Schedule I appended to the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1958." The facts lie in a short compass. The Sales Tax Officer made assessment in respect of sales by the assessee of kutti-ki-machine for the period November 6, 1959, to March 31, 1960, and April 1, 1961, to March 31, 1962. The assessee preferred an appeal to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, Sales Tax. He held, inter alia, that kutti-ki- machine was not....

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....) occurring in the notification was mowers. Therefore the next question which was to be decided was whether kutti-ki-machine fell within the meaning of that expression and the High Court after referring to the dictionary meaning and discussing the use of the word "mow" in English language came to the conclusion that the word "mower" could not be understood in a wide sense so as to include a chaff- cutter or kutti-ki-machine. In the notification as many as 30 items are mentioned comprising agricultural implements. They seem to include all kinds of such implements as are used for agricultural purposes irrespective of their size; for instance, item No. (29) is Persian wheel and parts thereof. Item No. (12) was "mower" which was omitted by the....

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....." It is contended that the meaning of the word "mower" has to be taken in the wider and general sense of a cutting machine which is used primarily for cutting grass and fodder. The emphasis, it is submitted, is on cutting and not on anything else. The word "mow" in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary is stated to mean, "to cut down grass, corn, etc. in a field, etc. with a scythe or a machine..." It is also stated that the word "mower" is usually used with "down". In Webster's New International Dictionary the meaning of the word "mow" is given as "to cut down; to cause to fall in rows or masses as in mowing grass; to cut grass etc. with a scythe or machine". A "mower" is of course stated to be a mowing machine. It is interesting that in....