Exemption notification classification for cardboard boxes turns on whether the goods are commercially understood as cartons.

Paper-based cardboard boxes used for biscuit packing were not automatically covered by the notification's reference to "paper" merely because they were made from paper; the notification separately referred to items such as cardboard and cartons, so paper could not be read to include every article made from paper. The later insertion of clause (e) in section 13(1) of the Bihar Finance Act, 1981 did not by itself override the earlier exemption notification, because the amended provision showed no intention to displace it and both were not inconsistent. Whether the boxes were "cartons" remained a factual classification issue requiring commercial and factual examination.

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Issues: Whether paper-based cardboard boxes used for packing biscuits are covered by the expression "cartons" or "card board" in the exemption notification, and whether the earlier notification excluding paper and paper products continued to operate after insertion of clause (e) in section 13(1) of the Bihar Finance Act, 1981.

Analysis: The notification dated 28 January 1985 excluded paper of all kinds and enumerated certain paper products, but the Court held that the expression "paper" could not be stretched to include every article made from paper when the notification itself specifically listed items such as cardboard and cartons. It further held that the subsequent insertion of section 13(1)(e) did not, by itself, supersede the earlier notification, since there was nothing in the amended provision showing an intention to displace the notification and the two were not inconsistent. As to the residuary question, the Court reaffirmed that whether a particular cardboard box answers the description of "carton" depends on the factual nature of the goods and the common commercial understanding of the article.

Conclusion: The earlier notification remained effective, but the classification of the appellant's cardboard boxes required factual examination to determine whether they fell within "cartons". The matter was therefore sent back to the taxing authority for reconsideration.

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