1996 (5) TMI 411

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.... dated January 13, 1988 passed in Appeal No. 93-IV/85: "Whether under the facts and circumstances of the case, the Board of Revenue, was justified in holding that the 'wool waste' is included in entry 39, Schedule I?" 2.. The non-applicant assessee deals in manufacture and sale of woollen felts and components made up of wool waste. During the assessment year 1980-81, the non-applicant was assessed at Rs. 15,42,344 the total value of the goods purchased by him during the year. The assessee claimed deletion of Rs. 12,44,826 which, according to him, was the amount spent in purchasing tax-free goods like burs, noils and viscose, etc. The assessing officer disallowed the claim on the ground that neither of the aforesaid articles fell within th....

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....ion 44(1) of the Act seeking reference to this Court. This is how the matter has come up before this Court for its opinion on the above noted question. 5.. We have heard Shri Surjit Singh, learned Government Advocate for the applicant-department and Shri S.C. Goyal, learned counsel for the non-applicant/assessee. 6.. Learned Government Advocate contended that the entry 39 when construed strictly does not leave any room for construing "wool waste" as "raw wool". He pointed out that all other "woollen articles" not covered by the entry 39 are included in another entry No. 11 of Part III of Schedule II of the Act which, according to the learned counsel, is indicative of the legislative intent to exclude all other woollen goods including wool....

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....g Tungabhadra Industries Ltd. v. Commercial Tax Officer [1960] 11 STC 827 (SC), held that the residue, after going through the process of acids and chemicals, continued and remained to be groundnut oil and was taxable as such at one per cent. On appeal to the Supreme Court: Held, affirming the decision of the High Court, that the reasoning and conclusions reached by the High Court were correct." 3.. We have given our anxious thought to the rival contentions. We, however, do not feel persuaded by the arguments advanced on behalf of the assessee. 4.. It is well-settled that the taxing statute is to be strictly construed. Justice G.P. Singh in his famous book "Principles of Statutory Interpretation" has in Chapter 10 quoted with approval f....

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....incentive to co-operative movement have to be liberally construed. Similarly when a provision is made permitting concessional rates of tax for the purpose of encouraging an industrial activity, the provision has to be liberally construed. So if the object of an exemption notification is to encourage the use of indigenous rice bran oil and to discourage the use of edible oils in soap manufacture, a narrow construction of the notification which defeats this object cannot be accepted and preference has to be given to a wider construction which promotes the object. As exemption provision cannot be denied full effect by a circuitous process of interpretation. But exemptions which lift the restriction of taxability imposed by an enactment are tax....