Coal and coke entry does not cover cinder, leaving the single-point tax claim unavailable.

The expression "coal, including coke in all its forms" in Item I of the Second Schedule to the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959 was construed in its ordinary commercial sense, and cinder was treated as materially distinct from coal and coke because it is the residue left after complete burning. The legislative history did not justify extending the entry by implication to cinder in the absence of clear statutory language. Accordingly, cinder was held outside the tax entry, and the petitioners were not entitled to single-point tax treatment or exemption from assessment.

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Issues: Whether cinder is included within the expression "coal, including coke in all its forms" in Item I of the Second Schedule to the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959, so as to attract single-point tax.

Analysis: The expression was construed according to its ordinary meaning and the commercial distinction between coal, coke and cinder. Coal and coke were treated as combustible substances, whereas cinder was regarded as the residue left after complete burning and therefore materially different from coke. The broader legislative history, including the earlier Central enactment and the later Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, did not justify treating cinder as a form of coke in the absence of clear statutory language. On that basis, the entry could not be extended to include cinder merely because it was derived from coal or coke.

Conclusion: Cinder is not coal, is not coke, and is not a form of coke within Item I of the Second Schedule to the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959. The petitions fail and were rightly dismissed.

Final Conclusion: The tax entry was held not to cover cinder, with the consequence that the petitioners were not entitled to exemption from assessment under the single-point scheme.

Ratio Decidendi: A tax entry covering coal, including coke in all its forms, cannot be extended by implication to cinder unless the statute clearly brings such residue within the scope of the entry.

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