Date of Judgment- 14th March, 1961
Court- Supreme Court
Relevant Citation- AIR 1961 SC 1325
Bench– J.L. Kapur, S.K. Das, M. Hidayatullah, J.C. Shah
Facts of the Case– In this case, three petitions were filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India challenging the imposition of sales tax on betel leaves by the Sales Tax Officer, Akola. The petitioners in all three petitions are the dealers of the betel leaves at Akola.
Relevant Laws – Berar Sales Tax Act, 1947
Arguments given by Appellants- The appellants refer to section 6 of the Berar Sales Tax Act, 1947, which exempts the sales tax on the goods mentioned in the second column of the Second Schedule of the Berar Sales Tax Act, 1947, subject to the conditions specified and exceptions set out in the third column . For the purpose of this case, only two items under column 2 of the Second schedule of the act are relevant, which are as follows:
- Item 6- Vegetables
- Item 36- Betel Leaves
This schedule was amended in the year 1948, and Item No. 36 was omitted from the list of exemptions.
But the appellants argued that since the meaning of the word vegetable, as per the dictionary is “of or pertaining to, comprised or consisting of, or derived, or obtained from plants or their parts”. So, Betel leaves are to be considered as vegetables, and no sales tax should be levied on them.
Judgment- In this case the court rejects the contention of the appellants and held that the betel leaves could not be given the dictionary, technical, or botanical meaning when the ordinary meaning is clear. Court in this case also held that the intention of lawmakers is clear by differentiating between Vegetables and Betel Leaves in Schedule 2 of the act. Hence, Betel leaves are liable to sales tax.