Popular and commercial meaning governs classification of calcium carbide as a chemical under a sales tax notification.

Calcium carbide was held to fall within the expression "chemical" in the sales tax notification and not as an unclassified item. The taxing entry was construed in its popular and commercial sense, not in a scientific or hypertechnical sense, and the material showed that calcium carbide is traded for its chemical properties because it generates acetylene gas by reaction with water. The fact that welders use the acetylene produced from it did not make calcium carbide itself a fuel. The question was therefore answered in favour of the Revenue.

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Issues: Whether calcium carbide is taxable as a chemical under Notification No. ST. 3391/X-1012/1962 dated 1st July, 1962, or as an unclassified item.

Analysis: The expression used in a taxing notification is to be understood in its popular and commercial sense and not in a scientific or hypertechnical sense. Calcium carbide is a substance used for generating acetylene gas by chemical reaction with water, and goods of that character are ordinarily treated in trade as chemicals because they are sold for their chemical properties. The material relied upon to suggest a different trade classification did not establish that the trade generally understood calcium carbide otherwise. The fact that welders use acetylene generated from calcium carbide does not make calcium carbide itself fuel.

Conclusion: Calcium carbide falls within the expression "chemical" in the notification and is not an unclassified item. The question is answered in favour of the Revenue.

Ratio Decidendi: An entry in a sales tax notification must be construed according to its popular and commercial meaning, and a commodity used for producing a chemical effect is classifiable as a chemical when trade understands it in that sense.

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