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42. Some foray into tea trade will not be out of place here. The tea which reaches consumer market begins it journey with the growing of tea as an agricultural product. The information that emanates from Encyclopedia Britannica (Macropaedia Vol. 18) 1980 Edn., can be stated in brief as under :

Tea is made from young leaves and leaf buds of tea plant a specie of evergreen (Camellia Sinensis). It originated in China, as per existing records according to legends about 2737 BC, in his writing dating back to 780 AD. Lu Tie, a Chinese scholar, said that there were a thousand and ten thousands teas. He described how the tea is used specifying that tea leaf be plucked during certain moms and clear weather, how it is to be manipulated in hands, dried and sealed. This signified that tea leaves as such are not used as a fresh green leaves but has to be brought by some process to its usable condition. The growing operation as per scientific study undertaken since 1890 reveals that tea growing operations include seed production, clonal selection, tea nursery management, transplanting, development of bushes and subsequent pruning and plucking; the soil management, and the ultimate replanting of the stand. With plucking of tea leaves, the agricultural or plant produce of tea comes in hand. But that is not marketable. It has to be subjected to process of preparing or making tea which can be brought to market.

Teas are blended by mixing the leaf in a machine consisting of a revolving drum fitted with veins. Satisfactory blending requires about 16 revolutions.

43. From the aforesaid narration of the Encyclopedia Britannica, it can be inferred that the three stages through which the tea goes in the market are growing of tea in different estates or gardens by the growers of tea at a suitable place. Green tea leaves as plucked from the tea bushes are not directly usable as tea as we know. It has to undergo certain process before it can be used as tea. That process is described as making or manufacturing of tea which results in bringing green tea leaves to the stage of its usability as tea of different grades having different chemical contents and properties depending upon the process applied and the geographical region in which the tea is grown, the soil over which plantation has taken place and the period in which the leaves have been plucked and collected from the tea growing centre. The making and manufacturing of tea result in bringing into existence the tea which is brought to the market for selling. However, as the tea is not a uniform product, different traders who purchase the tea brought to the market by different growers and manufacturers, resort to blending of tea to suit their own markets and consumers before they are sold loosely in retail or in branded packets to bring uniformity of taste and flavour for the buyers.

59. In coming to this conclusion, the Supreme Court quoted the meaning of 'manufacture of tea' from Encyclopedia Britannica Vol. 21 (1968 Edn.) as under:

"Then comes the sub-head 'Manufacture', which enumerates the categories of three classes of teas and then it is mentioned :
'Most stages of processing are generally common to the three types of tea. First, the fresh leaves are withered by exposure to the sun or by heating in trays until pliable (usually 18-24 hours). Next, the leaves are rolled by hand or machine in order to break the leaf cells and liberate the juices and enzymes. This rolling process may last upto three hours. Finally, the leaves are completely dried either by further exposure to the sun, over fires, or in a current of hot air, usually for 30-40 minutes'."