2012 (6) TMI 765

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....rned single judge, of this court in Writ Petition (M/S) No. 1581 of 2009, whereby the said court has allowed the writ petition and the circular dated May 30, 2009, issued by the Commissioner of Taxes, Uttarakhand, has been quashed. By the said circular letter the Departmental authorities were directed not to treat sauces like tomato sauce, etc., under entry 6 of Schedule IIB to the Uttarakhand Value Added Tax Act, 2005. 2. Heard learned counsel for the parties. 3. The brief facts of the case are that the present respondent/assessee was served with a show-cause notice dated June 19, 2009, by the assessing authority in the light of the circular letter dated May 30, 2009, issued by the Commissioner of Taxes, Uttarakhand, as to why commer....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....ate of 12.5 per cent shall not be realised from the petitioner. Hence this appeal by the Revenue. 5. The only question involved in this appeal is whether the learned single judge, has rightly held that the tomato sauce is a processed vegetable. 6. Before further discussion we think it just and proper to mention that under entry 24 of Schedule I "fresh fruits and vegetables including garlic and ginger, fresh fruit juices and fruit shakes like mango shake" are covered. Under clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 4 of the Uttarakhand Value Added Tax Act, it is provided that no tax under the Act shall be payable on the sale or purchase of the goods specified in Schedule I. In other words, on the sale of fresh fruits and vegetables incl....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

.... vegetables, no tax is payable at all. It is nobody's case that sauce be treated as fresh vegetable. In the circumstances, merely for the reason, that the word "tomato sauce" is not mentioned in entry 6, it cannot be said that the same is not included, particularly when the word "All" is affixed with the expression "processed and preserved vegetables" in the entry. 11. Botanically, the tomato is a fruit but for purposes of trade it is classified as a vegetable. It is common that tomatoes are widely used as canned vegetable in the form of juice, sauces, pastes and ketchup. Tomato sauce refers to tomato concentrate with salt, pepper, onion/garlic, sugar, spices and preservatives. It is a processed item, normally marketed in bottles and....