TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1979 (11) TMI 247
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....eco. According to the assessee, leco being carbonised lignite briquette was coal which is declared as goods of special importance in inter-State trade and commerce under section 14(i) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, even after its amendment by Act 61 of 1972 with effect from 1st April, 1973. If leco is taken as declared goods then the assessee's sales would be second sales which are not taxable. The assessing authority declined to grant this exemption, and the Appellate Assistant Commissioner confirmed the assessment. The Tribunal, after going elaborately into the question of manufacture of lignite briquettes and also other aspects of the matter, came to the conclusion that leco was declared goods under section 14(i) of the Act. In fact....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....es in colour from light brown to very dark brown. The light brown variety is sometimes called brown coal." Accepting the above meaning, the commodity in question was taken to be coal and not charcoal. The Government of India at the request of the State Government of Tamil Nadu clarified the issue as to whether lignite was coal. The clarification is as under: "I am directed to refer to your letter No. 31204/ST/Spl. 1/62-4 dated 23rd May, 1962, on the above subject and to say that this Ministry has been advised that 'coal' as defined in the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, would include 'lignite' also. This Ministry has also been advised that the lignite briquettes would fall within the scope of the term 'coke' used in the Act." ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....rom which it formed." It is treated as a category of coal. Coke is shown as meaning: "A coherent, cellular, solid residue remaining from the dry (destructive) distillation of a coking coal or of pitch, petroleum, petroleum residues, or other carbonaceous materials; contains carbon as its principal constituent, together with mineral matter and volatile matter." This is a category of coke in the sense of carbonaceous material. The meaning of charcoal is given as "A porous solid product containing 85-98 per cent carbon and produced by heating carbonaceous materials such as cellulose, wood, or peat at 500-600'C in the absence of air. (2) The residue obtained from the carbonization of a noncoking coal, s....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....se than as domestic fuel. The learned Government Pleader concedes that there is no other user of leco otherwise than as combustible material used as charcoal. Such is the popular and commercial understanding of the expression. The learned Tribunal rightly relied upon the elucidation of the product as given by the Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd., in its letter dated 12th September, 1969. Therein, the corporation says that leco is produced from lignite by a process of briquetting and carbonisation, and that leco is a product obtained from lignite after a certain process and after certain substances are extracted from it, such as phenyl, tar and linoleum, etc. Thus, it is clear that even the manufacturer of this new product has understood it ....