Common parlance test excludes sawdust from firewood under a sales tax exemption entry.

An undefined taxing entry must be construed in its common parlance and commercial sense. On that approach, sawdust is not ordinarily understood as "firewood" for the exemption entry in the Mysore Sales Tax Act, 1957, and the two commodities are not treated as the same in trade usage. A contractual example was relied on to support that distinction. The Tribunal's view that sawdust fell within firewood was therefore unsustainable, and the exemption claimed on that basis was rightly disallowed.

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Issues: Whether sawdust falls within the expression "firewood" in Serial No. 29 of the Fifth Schedule to the Mysore Sales Tax Act, 1957 so as to qualify for exemption.

Analysis: The expression "firewood" was not defined in the Act and therefore had to be construed in the sense in which it is understood in common parlance. On that approach, and also in commercial usage, firewood does not include sawdust. A contractual example was relied upon to show that the two are not ordinarily treated as the same commodity. The view taken by the Tribunal that sawdust is covered by firewood was therefore unsustainable.

Conclusion: Sawdust does not fall within the meaning of "firewood" for the relevant exemption entry, and the exemption claimed on that basis was rightly disallowed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a taxing entry is undefined, it must be interpreted according to its common parlance or commercial meaning, and a commodity not ordinarily understood as included in that expression cannot be brought within the exemption.

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