1959 (12) TMI 28

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....e gunnies in which the petitioner, assessee, sold vegetables prior to the date of the notification in December, 1954. The turnover of Rs. 16,718 represented the sale turnover of four items of vegetables. We find it convenient to refer to these vegetables by their Tamil names, the vegetables are indigenous. The turnover was: Sales of Karunai (Given in Tamil) Rs. 8,121, sales of senai (Given in Tamil) Rs. 4,001, sales of sembu (Given in Tamil) Rs. 2,968 and sales of sirukizangu (Given in Tamil) Rs. 1,628. Total Rs. 16,718. The question for consideration is whether these or any of these come within the scope of the expression "yam" as that expression is used in Notification No. 42 as it was amended in 1956. The effect of that amendment in 1....

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....karunai is described as elephantyam. Again in the Tamil Lexicon the word senai has been translated as arrow root, but in the description portion it is referred to as a species of Karunai (Given in Tamil). The utmost that can be said is that senai (Given in Tamil) is another species of yam, whether it is specifically called elephantyam or not. At one stage we were inclined to accept the contention that when the taxing enactment makes only yam as such taxable when it is sold, a strict construction should rule out elephantyam, but on further consideration we are of the view, that in normal usage both karunai and senai have been understood and treated all along as species of yam which was what apparently the authorities had in view when they de....