Ready-made garments are not textiles for sales tax exemption and remain taxable as distinct commercial goods.

Ready-made garments made from textile material were held not to fall within the expression "all varieties of textiles" for sales tax exemption. The exemption was construed as covering textiles in their cloth or fabric form, including handloom and powerloom textiles, but not finished garments that acquire a new commercial identity as goods such as shirts and pyjamas. Accordingly, ready-made clothes were treated as distinct from textiles and were held liable to sales tax.

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Issues: Whether ready-made clothes made out of textiles fall within the expression "all varieties of textiles" so as to qualify for exemption from sales tax.

Analysis: The exemption was intended for textiles, including textiles manufactured by handloom, powerloom, or otherwise, and was later incorporated in Schedule V of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act. Finished garments such as shirts and pyjamas are not merely cloth in another form but goods which have assumed a new character and commercial identity. The expression "textiles" was therefore held not to extend to ready-made clothes, which are distinct from cloth or fabric.

Conclusion: Ready-made clothes do not fall within the exempted category of textiles and are liable to sales tax.

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