Common parlance test for sales tax classification kept bubble gum outside the sweetmeat entry and taxable as unclassified goods.

Bubble gum was not covered by the Uttar Pradesh sales tax entry for sweetmeats or similar food items, because in common parlance it would not ordinarily be understood as mithai or sweetmeat in the relevant market. The Court held that the presence of sugar did not by itself make the product a sweetmeat, and that a reference to confectionery in other tariff contexts did not expand the specific notification entry. Bubble gum was therefore taxable as an unclassified item, and the revenue's appeal succeeded.

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Issues: Whether bubble gum was classifiable as sweetmeat or confectionery, or was taxable as an unclassified item under the Uttar Pradesh sales tax regime.

Analysis: The applicable entry in the notification covered sweetmeats, namkins, cooked food, rewari, gajak, biscuits, bread, cakes, pastries, buns, rusks and sugar products. Bubble gum was not named in the notification. Applying the common parlance test, the Court held that bubble gum would not ordinarily be understood as mithai or sweetmeat in Uttar Pradesh. It further held that bubble gum was not a food item to be treated as sweetmeat, and that the mere presence of sugar did not make it a sweetmeat. At the same time, the Court noted that chewing gum and bubble gum are treated as confectionery for certain tariff purposes, but that did not bring bubble gum within the specific notification entry. The Court concluded that the High Court had erred in classifying bubble gum as confectionery for the purpose of the sales tax notification.

Conclusion: Bubble gum was taxable as an unclassified item, and the revenue's appeal succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: For tax classification under a fiscal notification, goods must be understood in their ordinary or common parlance meaning in the relevant market and region, and a product not covered by the specific entry cannot be brought within it merely because it contains sugar or has some resemblance to confectionery.

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