Popular commercial meaning test excluded nylon-ware from plastic goods entry, leaving it taxable at the general sales tax rate.

Fiscal entries are construed by their popular and commercial meaning, not by scientific description. Applying that test, nylon yarn, nylon twine and nylon-ware were treated in trade as textile products, while the notified entry covered plastic celluloid, bakelite goods, similar substances, and articles made from plastic sheets or fabrics. Because nylon was not ordinarily understood as plastic goods or goods made of a similar substance, it did not fall within entry No. 7-C and remained taxable at the general rate under section 5(1) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act. The additional reliance on artificial silk was not considered, as it was raised for the first time.

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Issues: Whether nylon yarn, nylon twine and nylon-ware fell within entry No. 7-C of the taxable goods notification so as to attract tax at 7% instead of the general rate under section 5(1) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act.

Analysis: The relevant entry covered plastic celluloid, bakelite goods and goods made of similar substance, plastic sheets and fabrics, and articles made of such sheets or fabrics. In construing fiscal entries, the governing test is the meaning attributable to the goods in common parlance and commercial understanding, not their scientific description. On that basis, plastic goods and nylon goods were found to occupy different commercial fields: plastic was understood as hard moulded goods, while nylon was understood as a textile material used as yarn or twine. Though both are synthetic products, nylon in trade sense is not treated as plastic goods or goods made of similar substance. The additional contention based on artificial silk was not entertained as it was not open to be raised for the first time.

Conclusion: Nylon-ware and nylon twines were not covered by entry No. 7-C and were taxable only at the general rate under section 5(1) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act.

Ratio Decidendi: Fiscal entries must be construed according to their popular and commercial meaning, and a product not ordinarily understood in trade as falling within the notified class cannot be taxed under that entry merely because it is scientifically related to a broader group.

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