Civil Appeals Nos 356 and 357 of 1961
Appeals by special leave and certificate from the judgment and orders dated October 16 1959 and February 161960 of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in L P A No 93 of 1957 and Misc
Petition No 254 of 1959 respectively
152 section T Desai and N H Hingorani for the appellant
M R Nambiar section N Andley Rameshwar Nath and P L Vohra for respondent No 1 1960
October 20
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by HIDAYATULLAH J
These two appeals by special leave have been filed by the Municipal Committee Raipur against two different respondents who carry on business of extraction of oil from oil seeds
The case involves an interpretation of the Byelaws of the Municipal Committee and the determination of octroi duty which was payable by the respondents in the relevant years of assessment on sarso oil seeds brought by them within the area of the appellant Committee for purposes of their business
The Municipal Committee demanded an ad valorem octroi duty Rs 4 11 0 per cent from the respondents claiming to levy it under item 44 of the Schedule of goods liable to octroi duty in the Raipur Municipality appended to the Rules framed on June 4 1951
The respondents on the other hand contended that a duty of 2 annas per maund was leviable under item 4 of the same Schedule which covered the case of oil seeds
The respondents made representations described as appeals but were unsuccessful
Their demand for refund of octroi duty paid by them was refused and they therefore filed petitions under article 226 of the Constitution in the High Court of Nagpur later of Madhya Pradesh against the appellants alleging inter alia that this imposition of octroi duty ad valorem at Rs 4 11 0 percent on sarso oil seeds as against other oil seeds was ultra vires the Municipal Committee under article 14 of the Constitution
They also averred that octroi duty was properly leviable under item 4 and not under item 44
In the High Court the petition out of which Civil Appeal No 356 of 1961 arises was heard by a learned single Judge who held that 153 sarso oil seeds were chargeable to duty under item 44 and not under item 4
From the order of the learned single Judge it does appear that the constitutional question was urged before him
Against this order a Letters Patent Appeal was filed and the Divisional Bench which heard the appeal held disagreeing with the learned single Judge that duty was properly leviable only under item 4
Before the Divisional Bench also it does not appear that the constitutional question was argued
The petition out of which Civil Appeal No 357 of 1961 arises was heard by a Divisional Bench which following the earlier decision decided against the appellant Committee
The entries in the Schedule of goods liable to octroi duty in the Raipur Municipality contain eight classes of goods
Under them are grouped 67 items the serial numbers running consecutively through all the classes
Class I is headed Articles of food or drink or use for men or animals
Item 4 which is in that Class reads Oil seeds of every description not specifically mentioned elsewhere
Class V is headed Drugs spices and gums toilet requisites and perfumes and item 44 reads Betel nuts gums spices Indian herbs and Indian raw medicines and drugs such as nuts ilaichi laung jaiphal jaipatri dalchini sont katha zeera Dhania garlic dry chillies pepper shahzeera maithi sarso etc
and known as kirana groceries
Item 4 is chargeable to a duty of 2 annas per maund and item 44 is chargeable ad valorem at Rs 4 11 0 per cent
In addition to these entries there is item 17 which reads Vegetable oils not hydrogenated not provided elsewhere such as Tilli Tel Sarso Tel Alsi Tel Falli Tel Narial Tel Andi Tel  which are chargeable to a duty of 4 annas per maund
It is conceded on all hands that sarso is an oil seed and if there was nothing more in the Schedule a duty of 2 annas per maund would be leviable on sarso as an oil seed
The dispute arises because 154 sarso is mentioned again in Item 44 with a very much higher duty and it is contended by the appellant Committee that the words not specifically mentioned elsewhere in item 4 exclude sarso from that item and that its specific mention in item 44 makes it liable to the higher duty indicated there
The learned single Judge of the High Court held in favour of the Municipality
According to him this reason was sound and the higher duty demanded was the proper duty payable
The Divisional Bench on the other hand points out that the two classes I and V are entirely different
Class 1 deals with articles of food or drink for use for men and animals while Class V deals with drugs spices and gums toilet requisites and perfumes
The division indicates clearly that goods belonging to one category are not included in the goods belonging to the other
The Divisional Bench also points out that item 4 must be read as it stood and the specific mention must be in the same manner in which that entry was framed
Item 4 deals with oil seeds and the specific mention must be as oil seeds elsewhere in the Schedule
It was also argued for the respondents that elsewhere meant elsewhere in the same Class
But the appellant Committee pointed out that the serial numbers were all consecutive and that the specific mention could be anywhere in the Schedule
The two arguments are equally plausible and nothing much therefore turns upon them
In our opinion the Divisional Bench of the High Court was right when it said that the specific mention elsewhere must be as oil seeds and not as something else
Class V deals with spices and groceries and the concluding words of item 44 known as kirana determine the ambit of that item
Though sarso might be mentioned there it must be taken to have been mentioned as a spice or as kirana and not as oil seed
The extent of item 4 which deals with oil seeds of every descrip 155 tion could only be cut down by a specific mention elsewhere of an item as an oil seed
Item 44 contains fairly long list out of which we have quoted a few illustrative items
Each of these items is referable to the general heading either as a drug or a spice or gum etc
Sarso it is admitted is sold as kirana and as a spice
The mention of sarso there is limited by the general heading to which it belongs namely a spice drug or herb sold as kirana
No doubt sarso as an oil seed is the same article as sarso sold as kirana but we must take into account the intention behind the bye law and give effect to it
If it was intended that sarso as an oil seed was to be taxed in a special way it would be reasonable to expect that it would have be found a specific in mention as an oil seed with a different duty
One would not expect that it would be included in a long list of articles of kirana and in this indirect way be taken out from a very comprehensive entry like item 4 where oil seeds of every description are mentioned
Though the next argument is not conclusive because there is no logic behind a tax still it is to be noticed that sarso oil a maund of which as the affidavit of the respondents shows is expressed from three maunds of oil seed bears only an octroi duty of 4 annas per maund while three maunds of sarso oil seed under item 44 if it were applicable bear a duty of Rs 4 3 6 per maund if the price of sarso is taken as Rs 30 per maund as stated in the affidavit
This leads to an anomaly which in our opinion could hot have been intended
Finally it may be said that if there be any doubt the Divisional Bench of the High Court very properly resolved it in favour of the taxpayer
We therefore hold that the judgment of the High Court is correct and dismiss these appeals with costs
Appeals dismissed


Summary:
The respondents carried on business of extraction of oil from oil seeds
The appellant Municipality charged octroi duty at Rs 4 11 0 percent ad valorem under item 44 of the schedule of goods attached to the Rules framed by the Municipality
The respondent s case was that they were liable to pay octroi under item 4 of the said Rules at the rate of 2 as
per maund
The schedule consisted of eight classes with 67 items of goods the serial number running consecutively
Class I was headed Articles of food or drink or use for men or animals
Item 4 which was in that class read oil seeds every description not specifically mentioned else where
Class V was headed Drugs spices and gums toilet requisites and perfumes and item 44 which was in that class read betel nuts gums spices sarso etc
and known as kirana groceries Ihe single Judge who heard the matter in the first instance held in favour of the appellant but the court of appeal held in favour of the respondent
 Held that the view taken by the Court of appeal must be upheld
The words not specifically mentioned elsewhere in item 4 of the Schedule must mean mention as an oil seed
The words known as Kirana in item 44 clearly indicated that sarso fell within its ambit only as a spice or as Kirana and not as an oil seed
Although there could be no doubt that sarso as an oil seed was the same thing as Kirana but the intention behind the bye law to charge oil seeds at a lesser rate was clear and must be given effect to