1974 (9) TMI 93

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....on the view that the residue was still groundnut oil. The Sales Tax Officer rejected this contention. He held that this was oil of a different character and was taxable at 6 per cent. This view was upheld in appeal. The assessee went up in revision. The judge (Revisions), Sales Tax, held that the residue was in its nature and character groundnut oil with greater impurities than were contained in the original oil prior to its being treated with acids and chemicals. It was taxable as groundnut oil at one per cent. At the instance of the Commissioner, Sales Tax, the judge (Revisions), Sales Tax, has referred the following question of law for the opinion of this court: "Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Additional....

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....tation does not render groundnut oil any the less so, it follows that even the process of refining, by the application of chemical methods for removing impurities in the oil, would not detract from the resulting oil being 'groundnut oil' for the purpose of the rule." Applying this test it appears to us that the residue is still groundnut oil though it contains more than the normal quantity of impurities. It may be remembered that the acids and chemicals that are added to the groundnut oil in order to prepare vegetable oil are added to it with a view to refine the oil. It becomes clearer and more acceptable as an edible oil; but the process of refining does not change the nature and character of the commodity. It remains groundnut oil. On t....

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....resser normally contains a large proportion of unsaturated fatty acids-oleic and linoleic-which with other fatty acids which are saturated are in combination with glycerine to form the glyceride which is oil. The unsaturated fatty acids are unstable, i.e., they are subject to oxidative changes. When raw oil is exposed to air particularly if humid and warm, i.e., in a climate such as obtains in Madras, oxygen from the atmosphere is gradually absorbed by the unsaturated acid to form an unstable peroxide (in other words, the change involves the addition of two atoms of oxygen) which in its turn decomposes breaking up into aldehydes. It is this oxidative change and particularly the conversion into aldehydes that is believed to be responsible fo....