Common parlance test in sales tax classification places charcoal within coal and excludes residuary taxation.

In sales tax classification, goods are construed in their popular and commercial sense, as understood by traders and consumers, unless the statute requires a technical meaning. Applying that test, charcoal was treated as falling within the expression "coal" in the relevant schedule entry, supported by the scheme of the Act and the separate treatment of fuel items, so it was taxed under the specific entry rather than the residuary entry.

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Issues: Whether charcoal falls within the expression "coal" in entry 1 of Part III of Schedule II to the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1958, or is taxable under the residuary entry in Part VI of the Schedule.

Analysis: In construing entries in a sales tax statute, the controlling test is the meaning attached to the goods in common parlance and in commercial use by those dealing in them, not their scientific or dictionary meaning. Although coal in a geological sense is distinct from charcoal, persons dealing with coal and consumers purchasing it as fuel would ordinarily understand coal to include charcoal. The scheme of the Schedule also supported that conclusion, since coal and firewood were separately taxed as fuel items at 2 per cent., while the residuary entry was meant for goods not otherwise covered. Reference to other enactments using the word "coal" in a different context could not alter the meaning of the word in this Act.

Conclusion: Charcoal is covered by entry 1 of Part III of Schedule II and is taxable at 2 per cent. The appeal fails.

Ratio Decidendi: In a sales tax statute, words describing goods are to be construed according to their popular and commercial sense unless the statute indicates a technical meaning.

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