1980 (3) TMI 250

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....d is as to whether magnesium sulphate is taxable as chemical fertiliser as claimed by the assessee or as chemical as claimed by the revenue. The assessment year is 1974-75. The respondent-assessee carried on his business in the manufacture and sale of "magnesium sulphate" and had both intra and inter State sales. The book version and the disclosed turnover were accepted by the assessing officer b....

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....d "magnesium sulphate" either as a chemical or to those persons who required it as chemical and not as fertiliser. Being aggrieved the Commissioner has filed the present revision. After hearing the parties' counsel I find that the view taken by the learned revising authority is absolutely correct. It may first be noted that earlier the sale of chemical fertilisers was exempted from payment of tax....

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....hedule. Entry at serial No. 21 reads: "Chemicals of all kinds including fuel gases such as Burshane and Indane but excluding soda-ash and caustic soda." Now there can be no doubt that "magnesium sulphate " is a chemical which is a general category while chemical fertiliser is a specific category. It is a settled principle of interpretation that "an entry applying more specifically to a particular....

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.... supply magnesium to the soil through fertiliser mixtures or foliar sprays. In Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume 14, 1972 edition, at page 584, one of the uses of "magnesium sulphate" is stated thus: "An increasing use for magnesium oxide and magnesium sulphate is as a fertiliser in Mg. deficient soils, giving increased yields specially with citrus fruits and potatoes." As regards its organic comp....