Case: Corn Products Company India Limited Vs. Union of India

exclude condiments and spices such as yeast, salt, pepper, baking powder and turmeric, but in a wider sense, it includes everything that goes into the preparation of food proper to make it more palatable and digestible. The Supreme Court the referred to the meaning of the expression in Websters International Dictionary and then Justice Vivian Bose in his inimitable style observed: -"so far as "food" is concerned, it can be used in a wide as well as a narrow sense and, in my opinion, much must depend upon the context and background. Even in a popular sense, when one asks another, "have your had your food", one means the composite preparations which normally go to constitute a meal-curry and rice, sweetmeats, pudding, cooked vegetables and so forth. One does not usually think separately of the different preparations which enter into their making, of the various condiments and spices and vitamins, any more than one would think of separating in his mind the purely nutritive elements of what is eaten from their non-nutritive adjuncts. The proof of the pudding is, as it were, in the eating, and if the effect of eating what would otherwise be palatable and digestible and, therefore, nutritive is to bring on indigestion to a stomach unaccustomed to such unspiced fare, the answer must. I think, be that however nutritive a product may be in one form it can scarcely be classed as nutritive if the only result of eating it is to produce the opposite effect; and if the essence of the definition is the nutritive element, then the commodity in question must cease to be food, within the strict meaning of the definition, to that particular class of persons, without the addition of the spices which make it nutritive. Put more colloquially, "one mans food is another mans poison. " I refer to this not for the sake of splitting hairs but to show undesirability of such a mode of approach. The problem must, I think, be solved in a common sense way."( 4 ) BAKING powder is a product formulated from various edible ingredients such as edible maize, starch special, soda bicarb and sodium aluminium sulphate. The finished product is marketed by the company in their brand name rex in different packings. Baking powder is extensively used in bakery preparations like biscuits, breads and also in Indian preparations like pakoda, idli, samosa, gulab jamun, etc. The use of baking powder makes the preparation light and crisp and adds consistency to the formulation and improves the taste. As observed by the Supreme Court, the problem must be solved in a commonsense way and the Court should ascertain as to how the expression baking powder is understood in common parlance. We have no hesitation in observing that any housewife would treat baking powder as a food preparation and in trade parlance baking powder is sold and known as a food preparation. The Legislature had clearly made distinction between the expressions food products and food preparations and, therefore, the submission of Mr. Desai, learned counsel for the revenue, that baking powder should not be treated as food preparation because baking powder is not consumed as a food item cannot be accepted. The expression food preparations need not include every item which is consumed as a food product. For illustration, Item No. vi of the schedule to the exemption notification refers to grain mill products. Now, by no stretch of imagination, it can be suggested that aata which is grain mill product can be consumed as a food product, but aata would certainly attract the expression food preparations because aata is used for the purpose of baking bread or preparing roti. In our judgment, Item No. 1 of the schedule to the exemption notification gives an inclusive definition of food products and food preparations and bare perusal of the same makes it clear that even though the item cannot be consumed as a food, still the exemption would be available if the item falls under the entry food preparations. Mr. Desai relied upon decision of the Allahabad High Court in Ashok Griha Udyog Kendra Pvt. Ltd. v. Collector of Central Excise and Customs [1982 (10) E. L. T. 309] to urge that spices are neither food products nor food preparations even though spices are used in preparation of human food for the sake of giving flavour and taste to it. The Allahabad High Court did not assign any reasons for coming to this conclusion, but merely referred to the decision of a single judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Brooke Bond India Limited v. Union of India and Ors. [1980 (6) E. L. T. 65] and where it was held that coffee-chicory-blend was neither a food product nor a food preparation but is merely a beverage. We are unable, with respect, to share the view of the Allahabad High Court. It is not possible to hold that spices which are used in preparation of human food are not food preparations as understood in the exemption notification. Mr. Desai submitted that the question to be posed is whether spices and baking powder can be consumed and would constitute a meal. In our judgment, the question posed is misconceived. The question should be whether baking powder is a food preparation and which is a crucial ingredient in preparation of food products. It is not correct to suggest that unless the item can be consumed as a part of the meal, the same would not fall under the expression food preparations. The acceptance of the submission of Mr. Desai would lead to very curious result and would make the expression food preparations in the exemption notification redundant. It is well-settled rule of interpretation that no expression or part of it should be made redundant while interpreting an expression. In our judgment, baking powder would clearly fall within the expression food preparations and, therefore, the manufacture of baking powder is entitled to claim exemption under notification dated March 1, 1975.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]( 4 ) BAKING powder is a product formulated from various edible ingredients such as edible maize, starch special, soda bicarb and sodium aluminium sulphate. The finished product is marketed by the company in their brand name rex in different packings. Baking powder is extensively used in bakery preparations like biscuits, breads and also in Indian preparations like pakoda, idli, samosa, gulab jamun, etc. The use of baking powder makes the preparation light and crisp and adds consistency to the formulation and improves the taste. As observed by the Supreme Court, the problem must be solved in a commonsense way and the Court should ascertain as to how the expression baking powder is understood in common parlance. We have no hesitation in observing that any housewife would treat baking powder as a food preparation and in trade parlance baking powder is sold and known as a food preparation. The Legislature had clearly made distinction between the expressions food products and food preparations and, therefore, the submission of Mr. Desai, learned counsel for the revenue, that baking powder should not be treated as food preparation because baking powder is not consumed as a food item cannot be accepted. The expression food preparations need not include every item which is consumed as a food product. For illustration, Item No. vi of the schedule to the exemption notification refers to grain mill products. Now, by no stretch of imagination, it can be suggested that aata which is grain mill product can be consumed as a food product, but aata would certainly attract the expression food preparations because aata is used for the purpose of baking bread or preparing roti. In our judgment, Item No. 1 of the schedule to the exemption notification gives an inclusive definition of food products and food preparations and bare perusal of the same makes it clear that even though the item cannot be consumed as a food, still the exemption would be available if the item falls under the entry food preparations. Mr. Desai relied upon decision of the Allahabad High Court in Ashok Griha Udyog Kendra Pvt. Ltd. v. Collector of Central Excise and Customs [1982 (10) E. L. T. 309] to urge that spices are neither food products nor food preparations even though spices are used in preparation of human food for the sake of giving flavour and taste to it. The Allahabad High Court did not assign any reasons for coming to this conclusion, but merely referred to the decision of a single judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Brooke Bond India Limited v. Union of India and Ors. [1980 (6) E. L. T. 65] and where it was held thatwas neither a food product nor a food preparation but is merely a beverage. We are unable, with respect, to share the view of the Allahabad High Court. It is not possible to hold that spices which are used in preparation of human food are not food preparations as understood in the exemption notification. Mr. Desai submitted that the question to be posed is whether spices and baking powder can be consumed and would constitute a meal. In our judgment, the question posed is misconceived. The question should be whether baking powder is a food preparation and which is a crucial ingredient in preparation of food products. It is not correct to suggest that unless the item can be consumed as a part of the meal, the same would not fall under the expression food preparations. The acceptance of the submission of Mr. Desai would lead to very curious result and would make the expression food preparations in the exemption notification redundant. It isrule of interpretation that no expression or part of it should be made redundant while interpreting an expression. In our judgment, baking powder would clearly fall within the expression food preparations and, therefore, the manufacture of baking powder is entitled to claim exemption under notification dated March 1, 1975.