Popular and commercial meaning controls sales tax classification of cellophane sheet, which is not treated as paper.

Cellophane sheet was held not to be "paper" under item 42 of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act because the entry had to be read in its popular and commercial sense, not by scientific composition or chemical origin. As an ordinary buyer or trader would not treat cellophane sheet as paper, the commodity was commercially distinct from paper. The turnover from its sale was therefore not liable to assessment at the 5 per cent rate under that entry, and the assessment was set aside to the extent it included cellophane sheet turnover, with reassessment directed under the proper provision.

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Issues: Whether cellophane sheet was liable to be treated as "paper" falling under item 42 of the First Schedule to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, for the purpose of sales tax assessment.

Analysis: The expression "paper" was not defined in the Act and therefore had to be understood in its popular and commercial sense having regard to the context and the object of the entry. Cellophane, though manufactured from cellulose and used as a packing material, is a proprietary name for transparent cellulose sheet and is commercially distinct from paper. The ordinary consumer or trader asking for "paper" would not receive cellophane sheet, and the Legislature could not be assumed to have used the entry in a technical or chemical sense.

Conclusion: Cellophane sheet does not fall within item 42 as "paper", and the turnover from its sale was not assessable at 5 per cent under that entry.

Final Conclusion: The assessment was set aside to the extent it included the sale turnover of cellophane sheet, and the matter was directed to be reassessed under the appropriate provision.

Ratio Decidendi: A sales tax entry describing a commodity in ordinary language must be construed according to its popular and commercial meaning, not by reference to its chemical composition or scientific identity.

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