1998 (8) TMI 635

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....e Third Schedule of the said Act. Entries 8 and 23 of the First Schedule read thus: "8. Fresh vegetables and edible tubers. * * * 23. Flower, fruit and vegetable seed; seeds of lucerne grass (Rajka) and of sann hemp; bulbs, tubers and plants other than orchids." 3. That chicory roots are a "tuber" is not disputed. The question is whether the chicory roots, as cut and dried, are a commodity different from the tuber itself. 4. The appellants manufacture coffee. Chicory is an ingredient in the manufacture of coffee. The appellants entered into agreements in similar terms with cultivators whereunder the cultivators grew chicory and the appellants purchased the same. Clause (1) of the agreement stated that the cultiva....

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....act that the chicory roots were cut and dried by the cultivators did not change their character as chicory roots. He cited the judgment of this Court in CST v. Pio Food Packers, 1980 Supp SCC 174, 1980 SCC (Tax) 319 Learned counsel for the Revenue submitted that the character of the chicory roots did change; upon drying and cutting they lost their character as tubers and, applying the popular parlance test, could no longer be said to be such. 7. The case of Pio Food Packers aforementioned was concerned with pineapples which, after washing, were cut so that the inedible portions were removed. They were then sliced and canned in preservatives and the cans were sealed and sterilised. The question was: "Is the pineapple fruit consumed in ....