STATE OF ORISSA Vs. ORISSA FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE are references made under section 24 (1) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act (hereinafter REFERRED TO as the "act") by the Sales Tax Tribunal on application made by the State of Orissa. In S. J. C. Nos. 113 to 116 of 1973, the following questions have been referred :

(2.) UNDER section 5 (1) of the Act, the tax payable by the dealer is prescribed to be 5 per cent on his taxable turnover. The first proviso reads thus :

(3.) ADMITTEDLY , "plastic" and "nylon" are words without statutory definition. In the absence of definition, assistance of the dictionary can be taken for the purpose of finding out what is meant by the words, but the ultimate guidance has to be drawn from what meaning these words convey in the commercial field. According to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, the word "plastic" has a Latin root and derivatively means "a thing which can be moulded; moulding, or giving form to clay, wax, etc. " The Reader's Digest Great Encyclopaedic Dictionary indicates the meaning of the word "plastic" thus :