Periodical publications remain tax-free when issued regularly, but separate yearly bound volumes are taxable as distinct sales.

A publication issued at regular intervals qualifies as a periodical for sales tax purposes if it is intended to continue indefinitely or for an unspecified period, even when the monthly issues are later bound into annual volumes. On that basis, the regular monthly supply of the All India Reporter was treated as tax-free and excluded from turnover. However, a separate yearly bound volume sold as a complete book was not a periodical supply, because it was a single transaction rather than a recurring periodic issue, and was includible in turnover. The assessment was set aside and reassessment directed accordingly.

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Issues: Whether the monthly issues of the All India Reporter constituted a "periodical" within Item 26 of the old unamended Schedule II to the Sales Tax Act, and whether the bound yearly volumes sold out of those monthly issues were also exempt from turnover.

Analysis: The governing test was the ordinary meaning of "periodical". A publication issued at regular intervals may still be a periodical even if it is later bound into volumes, so long as it is intended to continue indefinitely or for an unspecified period and is not confined to a single, self-contained publication for a fixed term. The binding of monthly issues at the end of the year did not alter the character of the regular monthly supply. By contrast, a yearly bound volume taken as a whole was not issued periodically, since its sale was a single transaction and not a recurring periodic supply.

Conclusion: The monthly subscriptions for the regular supply of the All India Reporter were held to be receipts from tax-free goods and were to be excluded from turnover, but the sale of separate yearly bound volumes was not exempt and was includible in turnover.

Final Conclusion: The assessment order was set aside and the matter was directed to be reassessed in accordance with the distinction drawn between monthly periodical supplies and yearly bound volumes.

Ratio Decidendi: A publication issued regularly at recurring intervals is a periodical for sales tax purposes if it is intended to continue indefinitely or for an unspecified period, and later binding of those issues into volumes does not destroy that character; a separate yearly bound volume sold as a complete book is not a periodical supply.

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