Ordinary commercial meaning of "cement" includes white and refractory cement for taxation under the notification.

Where a taxing entry uses the term "cement" without definition, it must be construed in its ordinary commercial sense, as understood in trade and by consumers. On that approach, white cement and refractory cement were treated as special varieties of ordinary cement used for similar purposes and therefore included within the entry for cement. The later amendment expressly referring to white cement was only clarificatory and did not indicate prior exclusion. As a result, white cement and refractory cement fell within "cement" and were taxable at the notified rate of 7 per cent.

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Issues: Whether white cement and refractory cement are the same commodity as cement for the purpose of taxation under the relevant notification, and whether their turnover was liable to be taxed at 7 per cent as turnover of cement.

Analysis: The expression "cement" was not defined in the Act or the Rules and therefore had to be understood in its ordinary and commercial sense. In sales tax law, goods are classified according to the meaning attached to them by persons dealing in them and consumers purchasing them, rather than any scientific or technical meaning. White cement was found to be only a special variety of ordinary cement, used for similar purposes, and refractory cement was treated similarly. The later amendment specifically mentioning white cement did not mean that it was previously excluded; it only made explicit what was already implicit in the earlier entry.

Conclusion: White cement and refractory cement were held to fall within the expression "cement" and were taxable at 7 per cent under the notification.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a taxing entry uses an ordinary commercial term without definition, the term must be construed in its common parlance or commercial sense and includes all varieties ordinarily understood as falling within it unless the statute makes a distinction.

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