Civil Appeal No 3133 of 1979 Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated the 30th July 1979 of the Allahabad High Court in Sales Tax Revision No 573 of 1979
150 GL Sanghi Bharat Ji Aggarwal Naresh Kumar Sharma and Vineet Kumar for the appellant
SC Manchanda and Mrs Sobha Dixit for the respondent
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by VENKATARAMIAH J
The short point for consideration in this appeal is whether the expression cooked food  used in certain notifications issued under the UP Sales Tax Act 1948 UP Act XV of 1948 hereinafter referred to as the Act  can be construed as including within its meaning biscuits  also
The assessee the appellant herein is a registered firm engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of biscuits intended for human consumption
The assessee is a registered dealer under the Act
During the assessment proceedings under the Act for the year 1972 73 the assessee claimed that the turn over relating to biscuits manufactured and sold by it amounting to Rs 350992038 P was liable to be taxed at two per cent which was the rate prescribed by a notification issued by the State Government for cooked food contending that cooked food  included biscuits  also
The notification relied on was one issued on October 6 1971 under subsection 2 of section 3 A of the Act in supersession of an earlier notification dated July 1 1969
In both the notifications the tax was fixed at two per cent of the turn over payable at all points of sale in the case of cooked food
The Assistant Commissioner Tax Assessment Sales Tax Kanpur who was the assessing authority rejected the contention of the assessee that cooked food included biscuits also and imposed tax at the rate of three and a half per cent on the turn over relating to biscuits treating the same as an unclassified commodity
An appeal filed against the order of the assessing authority before the Deputy Commissioner Sales Tax and a further appeal before the Judge Appeal Sales Tax Lucknow were unsuccessful
The High Court of Allahabad also declined to interfere with the said order
This appeal by special leave is filed against the order of the High Court under Article 136 of the Constitution
The only ground urged before us is that biscuits should have been treated by the authorities under the Act and by the High Court as cooked food and sales tax should have been levied on the turnover of biscuits at the rate prescribed in respect of cooked food under the notification referred to above
The argument urged on 151 behalf of the appellant is that biscuit which was consumed by human being for nourishment is food and since it is prepared by baking which is a kind of cooking process it should be treated as cooked food
Relying on some foreign English dictionaries it is contended that cooking means preparation of food by application of heat as by boiling baking roasting broiling etc
and biscuit should therefore be treated as cooked food
What is of significance in this case is that the Hindi version of the notification issued uses the expression cooked food pakaya hua bhojan for cooked food  found in the notification in English language
It is a well settled rule of construction that the words used in a law imposing a tax should be construed in the same way in which they are understood in ordinary parlance in the area in which the law is in force
If an expression is capable of a wider meaning as well as narrower meaning the question whether the wider or the narrower meaning should be given depends on the context and the background of the case
In Hinde vs Allmond the question was whether tea was an article of food within the meaning of an Order designed to prohibit the hoarding of food namely Food Hoarding Order of 1917
The learned judges held it was not even though in some other decisions it had been held to be an article of food
Shearman J one of the judges said that he rested his judgment on the common sense interpretation of the word food  in the Order apart from its meaning in any other statute 
It is interesting to note that in a case before the Allahabad High Court in Annapurna Biscuit Manufacturing Co vs State of UP the assessee had contended that biscuit was an article of confectionery and that contention was negatived
It is relevant to note as we have mentioned earlier that when the Hindi text of the notification was issued contemporaneously with the English version the words  pakaya hua bhojan  were used as the equivalent of the words cooked food 
It may be that biscuit is served at tea time and in its wider meaning cooked food  may include biscuit
But ordinarily biscuit is not understood as cooked food
If a person goes to a hotel or restaurant and asks for some cooked food or cooked food  pakaya hua bhojan  certainly he will not be served with biscuits in Uttar Pradesh
While it is not necessary to state in the present case as to what all items may be called as cooked food we can definitely say that in the context and background of the notification biscuit cannot be treated as cooked food
152 The High Court of Allahabad has in an earlier case in Commissioner of Sales Tax vs Jassu Ram Bakery Dealer held that biscuit was not cooked food
The High Court of Madhya Pradesh has also taken the same view in Commissioner of Sales Tax Madhya Pradesh vs Shri Ballabhdas Iswardas
We approve of the views expressed in the aforesaid decisions
There is no ground to interfere with the orders under appeal
In the result this appeal fails and is dismissed
No costs
SR Appeal dismissed


Summary:
Dismissing the appeal the Court  HELD 1
In the context and background of the notification biscuit cannot be treated as cooked food
In the Hindi text of the notification issued contemporaneously with the English version the words cooked food were used as the equivalent for cooked food
Ordinarily biscuit is not understood as cooked food
Nor any one asking for some cooked food in a hotel will be served with biscuits in Uttar Pradesh
The item has been correctly treated as unclassified commodity and tax levied accordingly
151FGH Commissioner of Sales Tax vs Jassu Ram Bakery Dealer 38 STC 461 Commissioner of Sales Tax Madhya Pradesh vs Shri Bailabhdas Iswardas 21 STC 309 approved
It is a well settled rule of construction that the words used in a law imposing a tax should be construed in the same way in which they are understood in ordinary parlance in the area in which the law is in force
If an expression is capable of a wider meaning as well as narrower meaning the question whether the wider or the narrower meaning should be given depends on the context and the background of the case
151 C E Hinde vs Allmond  quoted with approval