TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1967 (8) TMI 107
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....relied on the dictionary meaning of "oil-seed" and "groundnut". According to the dictionaries an oil-seed is a seed yielding oil, and groundnut is a small farinaceous edible tuber of the wild beans. So it is said that while an oil-seed is a seed, a groundnut is a species of beans. Counsel has also referred us to certain decisions in support of his argument. In The State of Andhra Pradesh v. Kajjam Ramachandraiah[1961] 12 S.T.C. 795., the Andhra Pradesh High Court has held that coriander, voma and sompu are not oil-seeds. We are not concerned with these things in this case, but certain observations are noteworthy. The Court said: "The important question, to our mind, is not whether oil can be extracted from these seeds, but whether they a....
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....went on to say: "In its popular sense, the word 'oil-seeds' means various kinds of grain which are principally used for extraction of oil." It was further said: "The test is not whether oil can be extracted from a fruit or seed, but it is whether in common parlance the article is known as 'oil-seed' used principally for the extraction of oil. Judged by this test, it is difficult to hold that coconuts, groundnuts and jira fall within the meaning of the term 'oil-seeds......... In The Central India Spinning and Weaving and Manufacturing Company Limited v. The Municipal Committee, WardhaA.I.R. 1958 S.C. 341., it was held that betel leaves are not "vegetables". It was said there that where the words of a statute are susceptible of two ....
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....ttedly a flowering plant, is the coconut with its shell and husk and that it is such coconut when planted that becomes capable of developing into another coconut plant. That being so, it is clear that a coconut is a seed and since oil can be extracted from a coconut, it is an oil-seed within the meaning of that expression occurring in section 14(vi) of the Central Sales Tax Act." In Sales Tax Officer, Kozhikode v. K.V. Moosa Koya[1966] 18 S.T.C. 464., the Kerala High Court held that copra is an oil-seed within the meaning of that expression under section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act. The Court followed the decision of the Mysore High Court. In The Commissioner of Sales Tax, Madhya Pradesh v. Mls. Jaswant Singh Charan Singh (Civil A....
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....uld include'charcoal' in the term 'coal'. It is only when the question of the kind or variety of coal would arise that a distinction would be made between coal and charcoal; otherwise, both of them would in ordinary parlance as also in their commercial sense be spoken as coal." In His Majesty the King v. Planters Nut and Chocolate Company Limited(3), Cameron, J., said: "The object of the Excise Tax Act is to raise revenue, and for this purpose, to class substances according to the general usage and known denominations of trade. In my view, therefore, it is not the botanist's conception as to what constitutes a 'fruit' or 'vegetable' which must govern the interpretation to be placed on the words, but rather what would ordinarily in mat....
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....ins and oilseeds etc. In all these papers groundnut has been invariably included in the heading of oil-seeds. It would accordingly appear that men of business in our country regard groundnut as an oil-seed. Oil is extracted from groundnut on a commercial scale in our country. Groundnut oil is edible oil. If this oil is produced from seed, then groundnut will surely be an oil-seed, According to the definition of the word "seed" noticed in the decision of the Mysore High Court, groundnut will be an oil-seed. The English version of the notification issued by the State Government uses the word "oil-seed". The original of the notification, which is in Hindi, uses the word "tilhan". The Shabdsagar, a Hindi dictionary published by the Kashi Nagari....