TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1955 (7) TMI 16
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....f goods specified in Schedule I." If the sales in question are not covered by entry No. 4 in Schedule I, they would be liable to only the general tax, i.e., to one half of an anna in the rupee on the taxable turnover. Entry No. 4 in Schedule I reads thus: "Cinematographic, photographic and other cameras, projectors and enlargers; lenses and other parts of and accessories to such cameras, projectors and enlargers and films, plates, paper and cloth required for use therewith." In March, 1951, the Government of Bombay issued a book called the Bombay Sales Tax Hand Book for the use of dealers and other per- sons affected by the Bombay Sales Tax Act of 1946. In Appendix A to the said Hand Book, it was stated that there had been some difficulty regarding the scope of the various entries in Schedules I and II as to whether particular items would or would not fall within their purview; accordingly, explanations were added to the entries showing which classes of articles were included in the entries and which classes were not so included. The following articles were stated to be included in entry No. 4: "Flash lights; Flash light batteries and flash light bulbs; X-ray films; Apparatus for ....
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....not only on the explanation given in the Hand Book referred to above, but on the popular meaning of the word camera, i.e., an apparatus designed to take photographs, and concluded that an X-ray apparatus which took X-ray photographs could be regarded as an X-ray camera. According to him the fact that an X-ray apparatus generated its own rays for taking photographs could not alter the issue, and he held that the X-ray equipments in question were intended to be covered by the words "other cameras" in entry 4. The opinions of certain experts recorded in their affidavits were not held to be sufficient to displace or disprove the view taken by the Additional Collector. The revision application was accordingly dismissed by him. 3.. We might at this stage refer to some of the affidavits which were produced before the Additional Collector of Sales Tax. The follow- ing are some of the passages to be found in the affidavit made by Dr. C.G. Talwalkar, M.B.B.S., D.M.R.E., President of the Bombay Radiological Association: "The X-ray apparatus is a generator and not a recording medium as is an ordinary camera." "Fortunately for medical science and the whole of mankind, this radiation has the pr....
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....e old term, camera obscura, is now shortened into camera, excepting in a few cases where an old-style tent-camera is used as an exhibition at a sea-side holiday resort. Every form of camera now used is actually a dark chamber or box into which the image of external objects may be pro- jected by means of a lens or other image-forming device .................... Certain cameras are described, under appropriate headings, as hand camera, miniature camera, stand camera, panoramic camera, reflex camera, cinematograph". Webster's New International Dictionary, 1948 Edition, P. 385, contains the following under "camera": "A camera obscura; a closed box or similar chamber through the aperture of which the image of an object is recorded on a light-sensitive material. The pinhole camera has a minute aperture and no lens. Commercial camera consists essentially of a converging lens, a carrier for roll film, cut film or plates with suitable shield or bellows for excluding extraneous light, and shutter to make and regulate the exposure. The box camera with single lens and rotary shutter is the simplest commercial form. Folding cameras are usually fitted with larger aperture compound lenses, and ha....
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....ough the meaning given in the dictionaries would be of use in ascertaining such meaning. Shri Kabe has also relied on the Exchequer Court of Canada in His Majesty The King v. Planters Nut and Chocolate Company Limited(1), where the ques- tion for determination was whether salted peanuts and cashewnuts were vegetables or fruits. Evidence was adduced in that case that both the peanuts and cashewnuts are vegetables in the wider meaning of that word, that each is a "fruit", the former belonging to the same class as peas or beans and the latter to the dry drupe classification like the coconut, and that neither is a nut. The learned judge, however, did not accept the botanist's conception as to what constituted a "fruit" or "vegetable" and was of opinion that they were ordinary words in every day use and must therefore be construed according to their popular sense. In his opinion those were not used in the sense in which they were understood in any particular science or art, and they were to be construed as they were understood in common language. Shri Kabe has also relied on the decision of the Madhya Pradesh Board of Revenue in the case of Mohanlal Ramkisan Nathani v. The State(2), whe....
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....t is not to be taxed without clear words for that purpose and also that every Act of Parliament must be read according to the natural construction of its words". 7.. In our opinion, after considering all the relevant factors as to the construction of the word "camera", there remains a considerable amount of doubt as to whether the machines in question can properly be classed as cameras. In Commissioner of Income-tax, Burma v. Phra Phraison Salarak(2), it was observed that the subject is not to be taxed without clear words to the effect and that in dubio courts should always lean against the construction which imposes a burden on the subject. The principle that the benefit of doubt in fiscal measure is to be given to the subject has been enunciated in numerous cases, for instance, in Killing Valley Tea Co., Ltd. v. Secretary of State(3), John & Co., In re(4), and Rowe & Co., In re(5). In Foley v. Fletcher(6), it was stated that the rule properly understood is that the burden of proof is on the assertor, not that, wherever there is any doubt a statute is to be said not to mean what it does mean. 8.. Although the analogy of other enactments, and particularly decisions of executive d....