Sharma, J. - (1.) THIS is a petition by Messrs Bhawani Ram Bhagwan Dass of Alwar under Art. 226 of the Constitution of Indian. It relates to Sales Tax matter and arises in the following way. By a notification published in Rajasthan Rajpatra, the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954, hereinafter to be referred to as the Act, was brought in force. Under this Act, the sales of certain commodities were made taxable. Under sec. 4 (1) of the Act, read with schedule annexed thereto, certain commodities were exempted from the tax. Under sec. 4 (2), the State Government was further empowered to exempt from tax, sale of any other goods, or class of goods, or any person, or class of persons. A notification was published in Vol. VII Pt. 1 (Kha.) at p. 386, on 13th of August, 1955, copy of which is marked A on the record, exempting from the tax bura, batasha and misri, provided the dealers obtained exemption certificates, for which a fee of Rs. 10/-was prescribed. The petitioner's case is that he filed the return of sales in accordance with law and the Respondent No. 1, namely, the Assistant Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, Alwar, after examining the accounts, found the sale of bura batasha and misri, from the 1st of April, 1955, to the 21 of September, 1955 taxable. The petitioner took several objections against the imposition of the tax on the sale of the aforesaid commodities but his objections were turned down, and the approximate sale was worked out at Rs. 4,700/-between the 1st of April, 1955, to the 21st of September, 1955, and found taxable. The respondent No. 2, the Commissioner, Sales Tax and Agricultural Income tax, Rajasthan, was also referred to once in this connection, but he gave his opinion that the dealers in bura batasha and misri were required to get themselves registered and obtain an exemption certificate. The petitioner says that bura batasho and misri were nothing but deshi sweetmeates, which were exempted from the tax under the Schedule of the Act and consequently their sale could not be taxed and the dealers could not be asked to obtain exemption certificates in order to get themselves exempted from the tax. It has been prayed that a writ in the nature of certiorari, or any other appropriate writ, order, or direction be issued and the assessment order be quashed, and it be declared by an appropriate order or direction that bura, batasha and misri are deshi sweetmeats and as such, exempted under Item No. 14 of the Schedule annexed to the Act; a writ in the nature of prohibition or any other appropriate order or direction has also been prayed directing the Respondent No. 1 not to execute the order of assessment dated the 15th of April, 1957, and recover the tax assessed against the petitioner; and a direction is also sought against the respondents that they should not tax the sales of bura batasha and misri in future. The respondents have filed a reply. They contend that bura, batasha and misri are not sweetmeats. They say that they are manufactured goods and are taxable. They, therefore, say that tax has been validly assessed and the Government was entitled to issue a notification for a certificate of exemption in respect of these commodities.
(2.) THE only thing to be determined in this case is whether bura batasha and misri are deshi sweetmeats, because if they are, then they are exempted from the tax by Item No. 14 of the Schedule to the Act. THE Act having itself exempted deshi sweetmeats, it was not open to the State to issue a notification that bura, batasha and misri would be exempted from the tax only if their dealers obtained exemption certificates. We were referred to Webster's New International Dictionary, Shorter Oxford English Dictionary and the 20th Century Chamber' Dictionary, hereinafter to be referred to for brevity's sake as the Webster's, Oxford and Chambers' dictionary's respectively. We have considered the meaning given to the term 'sweetmeat' in these dictionaries. According to Websters dictionary, 'sweetmeat' means any food rich in sugar, as cake, candy, sweetpastry, etc. 'confection' according to the same dictionary means, 'state or product resulting from combining ingredients'. Candy is denned as 'sugar crystals or hard crystalline mass formed by evaporating or boiling cane sugar, a syrup, or the like to a certain point'. In Oxford dictionary, the meaning of sweetmeat is given as, sweet food as sugared cake, etc preserved or candied fruits,sugared nuts etc. , also globules, lozenges, drops or sticks made of sugar with fruit or other flavouring or filling. According to Chambers' dictionary, it means, 'a confection made wholly or chiefly of sugar. In this dictionary, 'confection' means, composition, compound, a sweetmeat. Candy and sugar candy, in this dictionary mean, 'a sweetmeat made of sugar : anything preserved in sugar'. Considering the meaning of the terms, 'sweetmeat', 'confection', 'candy' and 'sugar candy' given in these dictionaries, we come to the conclusion that batasha and misri or sugar candy are nothing but deshi sweetmeats. They are deshi. because their preparation is indigenous, batashas are sweetmeats because they are drops prepared from sugar and misri is nothing but sugar candy which in the Chambers' dictionary has been defined as a sweetmeat made of sugar and both are articles of food rich in sugar. Shri Gupta argued that sweetmeat should be such a thing which can be used as food. It cannot be doubted that both batasha and sugar candy or misri can be used as an article of food. Of course, they may by themselves be not sufficient to satisfy the hunger of an individual but it is not necessary that an article of food should be such as should by itself be sufficient to completely satisfy the hunger. As a matter of fact, hunger can be satisfied for the time being if a sufficient quantity of any eatable commodity is taken, although all eatable commodities may not be such as by themselves would be sufficient for the due nutrition of the body. Batasha and misri (sugar candy) can ordinarily be taken by themselves and it is not ordinarily necessary to mix them up with some other eatable thing simply to give it a sweet taste. We, therefore, do not agree with shri Gupta that because batasha or misri might not be sufficient by themselves to satisfy the hunger, they are not sweetmeats. We do not think that an article is an article of food only if it can maintain the body in a healthy condition or completely satisfy hunger even if taken alone. To our mind, both batasha and misri or sugar candy come within the definition of deshi sweetmeat, which is exempted by Item No. 14 of the Schedule to the Act. Coming to the case of bura, we do not think, it can be said to be either a confection or a candy, or a food rich in sugar. It is simply another form of sugar. It cannot be called an article of food, because it cannot ordinarily be taken alone. Ordinarily it is used to sweeten another thing such as milk, fruits or other articles of food. Salt is also used to give a saline taste to certain articles of food but it is ordinarily not taken all alone, Just as salt cannot be called a food, bura too to our mind cannot be food. We, therefore, think that batasha and misri are exempted from the tax by virtue of Item No. 14 of the Schedule to the Act and it is not necessary for the dealers to obtain an exemption certificate in order to save themselves from the tax. So for as bura is concerned we do not think it comes within the definition of deshi sweetmeat under Item 14 of the Schedule to the Act. The Government was, therefore, perfectly justified in issuing notification that if any dealer wanted to get exemption from the tax, on the sale of bura he should obtain an exemption certificate, and to tax the sale of bura by those dealers who have not obtained exemption certificate as required by the notification. The petition is partly allowed, and by a writ of certiorari, the assessment order dated the 15th of April 1957, is quashed so far as it relates to batasha and misri, and it is declared that batasha and misri are deshi sweetmeats and as such, exempted under Item No. 14 of the Schedule annexed to the Act. The respondents are also prohibited from recovering sales tax assessed against the petitioner in respect of the sales of batasha and misri in future. In view of the partial success and failure of the parties, they shall bear their costs of this petition. .;