Processing does not change tax classification where essential textile attributes remain intact under the sales tax entry.

Processed book-binding cloth remained within entry 11 of Schedule B to the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953 because the entry classified medium cloth by the count of warp yarn, and the subsequent bleaching, dyeing, starching and calendering did not alter that decisive feature. Although processing made the cloth stiffer, less porous and more moisture-resistant, its essential physical attributes continued unchanged and it remained cloth of the same class for section 27(d). The Collector's contrary view was rejected, and relief was granted by restoring the Assistant Collector's order.

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Issues: Whether cloth that was originally medium cotton cloth but was subsequently bleached, dyed, starched and calendered continued to fall within entry 11 of Schedule B to the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953 as medium cloth for the purposes of section 27(d) of the Act.

Analysis: Entry 11 defined medium cloth by reference to the count of warp yarn employed, and the processing did not alter that count. The cloth continued to be cloth, and the material features required by the entry remained present after processing. Although the article became stiffer, non-porous and more moisture-resistant, those changes did not destroy the essential attributes that brought it within the entry.

Conclusion: The processed book-binding cloth remained medium cloth within entry 11 of Schedule B, and the Collector's contrary view was incorrect.

Final Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to relief, and the order of the Assistant Collector was restored while the order of the Collector was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a taxing entry classifies goods by their essential physical attributes, processing that does not alter those decisive attributes does not take the goods out of the specified entry.

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