Case Law Details
In re T P Roy Chowdhury & Company Pvt. Ltd. (GST AAAR West Bangal)
There is no dispute that raw whole yellow peas are agricultural produce covered under serial no. 45 of the Rate Notification and are exempted goods. However, this particular consignment of raw whole yellow peas was harvested in foreign land and the concerned primary market or the farmers’ market is located in that foreign land. We observe from a combined reading of entry number 54 of the Exemption Notification and definition 2(d) of the Exemption Notification that all services and processes are excluded beyond the primary market. For the sake of clarity definition under 2(d) the Exemption Notification is reproduced here as following:
“agricultural produce” means any produce out of cultivation of plants and rearing of all life firms of animals, except the rearing of horses, .for .food, fibre, fuel, raw material or other similar products. on which either no further processing is done or such processing, is clone as is usually done by a cultivator or producer which does not alter its essential characteristics hut makes it marketable for primary market”
The term primary market in common parlance refers to farmers’ market like “mandi” or “arhat” being a place where the farmers directly sell their product to the buyers like wholesalers. millers. food processing units. etc. The spirit of the legislature was intended to boost the agricultural sector of the home country and not that of a foreign land. The primary market in the instant case being located in foreign shores does not conform to the definition as stated above. Further there is no evidence that the grains have not undergone any type of treatment before leaving the foreign country from where they have been imported into India.
In view of above discussion we find no infirmity in the ruling pronounced by the WBAAR.
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