Essential character test keeps cured tobacco leaves within the GST entry despite grading and bundling, preserving concessional rate.

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....Tobacco leaves under the GST rate notification were treated by reference to their essential character: sun-cured leaves procured from farmers and supplied as such, or after grading, bundling or butting, continued to fall within the entry for "tobacco leaves" in Schedule I. The rate entry was read in commercial parlance without limiting it to green, fresh or uncured leaves, and the circular was construed consistently with that reading. Curing to reduce moisture, and handling steps such as grading, bundling and butting, were not treated as processes creating a new commodity. The concessional GST rate therefore applied to such leaves.....