STATE OF WEST BENGAL & ORS. versus WASHI AHMED ETC.

Citation: [1977] 3 S.C.R. 149 · Decided: 07-03-1977 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: P.N. BHAGWATI, S. MURTAZA FAZAL ALI · Disposal: Dismissed
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Judgment (excerpt)

149 
STATE OF WEST BENGAL & ORS. 
v. 
WASH.I AHMED ETC. 
March 7, 1977 
[P. N. BHAGWATI ANDS. MURTAZA FAZAL ALI, JJ.J 
Taxing statute-Principles of construction of words in a taxing statute-
Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941, Schedule I, Item 6-"Green ginger", 
whether 1neans a "vegetable" falling within the category of goods described 
as "vegetables, green or dried con1111011ly known as subji, tarkari or sak" and 
thus exempt from tax liability. 
Section 6 (1) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act 1941 exempts from 
tax liability "vegetables, green or dried commonly known as subji, tarkari or 
sak" when not sold io. sealed containers. The Sales Tax Authorities levied 
sales tax on "green ginger" sold by the respondents, taking the view that inas-
much as green ginger is used to add flavour and taste to food, it is 
not 
"vegetable commonly known as subji, tarkari or sak". A writ petition chal-
lenging the validity of the orders of assessment was allowed by the Calcutta 
High Court which held that green ginger is vegetable within the rrieaning of 
that expression as used in Item 6 of the First Schedule to the Bengal Finance 
(Sales Tax) Act, 1941. 
Dismissing the State appeals by Special Leave the Court, 
HELD : ( 1) Green ginger is included within the meaning of the \Vords 
"vegetables-commonly kµ.oWn as sub.ii, tarkari or sak" in Item 6 of Schedule 
I and its sales are exempt from tax under s. 6 of the Bengal Finance (Sales 
Tax) Act, 1941. 
[152 DJ 
(2) The word "vegetable" though not defined in the Act, being a word 
A 
B 
c 
D 
of every day use, must be construed not in any technical sense, nor from 
E 
any botanical_point of view but as understood in common parlance i.e. denot-
ing class of vegetable~• which are grown in a kitchen garden or in a farm 
and are used for the table. The word "vegetable" in Item 6 of Schedule I 
to Lhe Act, so construed, by giving its 
popular sense 
meaning, "that sense 
which people conversant with the subject-matter with which the statute 
is 
dealing would attribute to it" denotes those classes of vegetables which are 
grown in a kitchen garden or in a farm and are used for the table. Green 
ginger obviously is a vegetable grown in a kitchen garden or in a farm and 
it is used for the table. It may not be used as a principal item of the meal, 
F 
but it certainly forms part of the meal as a subsidiary item. Green ginger 1s 
generally regarded as included within the meaning of the word "vegetable" as 
understood in common parlance. 
[150 F-H, 151 G-H, 152 A] 
Ran1aratar Budilaiprasad v. Assistant Sales Tax Officer Akola, A.LR_ 1961 
S.C'. 1325; !i,-fls. Motirur Za111indary Co. Ltd. v. State of Bihar A.!.H. 
1962 
>.C. 660, applied. 
Mad:1ya Pradr:s!J Pan Merchants' Association, Santra Market, Nagpur v. 
G 
State of Madhya Prad,~sh 7 S.T. Cases 99 at 102, referred to. 
Grenfefl v. l.R.C. (1876) 1 Ex. O. 242 at 248: Planters Nut and Chocolate 
Co. Ltd. v. The King (1951) 1 D.L.R. 385; 200 Chests of Tea (1824) 9 
Wheaton (U.S.) 430, at 438 quoted with approval. 
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal Nos. 1546-1551 
of 1971. 
(From the Judgment and Ord~r dated 20-12-1968 of the Calcutia 
High Court in Appeals from Ongmal Orders Nos. 556-559, 571 and 
572 of 1967) 
H 
15 0 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[ J 977] 3 S.C.R. 
A 
Lal Narni11 Si11ha, Sol. Gencrnl and G. S. Chatterjee, for the appel-
B 
c 
D 
E 
F 
G 
H 
lants. 
P11rushottwn Chatterjee and Rathin Das, for the respondents. 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
BHAGWATI, J.-The short question which arises for determination 
in these appeals is whether green ginger falls within the category of 
goods described as "vegetables, green or dried, commonly known as 
"sabji, tarkari or sak" in Item ( 6) of Schedule I to the Bengal Finance 
(Sales Tax) Act, 1941. If it is covered by this description, it would 
be exempt from sales tax imposed under the provisions of that Act. 
The Sales Tax authorities held that green ginger is used lo add llavour 
and taste to food and it is, therefore, not vegetable commonly known 
as sabji, tarkari or sak". 
The orders of the Sales Tax authorities 
were challenged in a writ petition filed under article 226 of the Consti-
tution and a Single Judge of the High Court who heard the writ peti-
tion disagreed with the view taken by the Sales Tax authorities and 
held that green ginger is vegetable within the meaning of that expres-
sion as used in Item (6) of the First Schedule to the Act. 
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