AIR 1961 KERALA 111 ::1960 Ker LT 820 ::1960 Ker LJ 869

Kerala High Court

Hon'ble Judge(s): M. S. Menon, T. K. Joseph , JJ

(A) Constitution of India , Sch.VII List I Entry 84, Sch.VII List II Entry 46— Tax on income from cultivation of tobacco - Not excise duly - Levy under Travancore Cochin, Agricultural Income-tax Act (22 of 1950) - Not invalid. A tax on the income derived from the cultivation of tobacco does not amount in substance and effect to a duty of excise within the ambit of Entry 84 of the Union List but amounts only to a tax on agricultural income within the meaning of Entry 46 of the State List, The base of an agricultural income-tax is the income derived and the base of a duty of excise is the commodity produced. Hence, the levy of an agricultural income-tax on the income derived from the cultivation of tobacco under the Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950, is not beyond the powers of the State Legislature. Case law ref.(Para 3 6) (B) Constitution of India , Art.246— Pith and Substance, doctrine of. Where the legislative competence of a legislature in regard to a particular enactment is challenged with reference to the entries in the various lists, it is necessary to examine the pith and substance of the Act and if the matter comes substantially within an item in one List, it is not deemed to come within an entry in any other List....