Common parlance test controls sales tax classification of machinery; electric operation alone does not make a lathe electrical goods.

For sales tax classification, the governing test is common parlance or commercial sense, not a technical or scientific description. A lathe does not become electrical goods merely because it operates only with electric energy. The classification adopted by the authorities was unsustainable because they failed to examine how the goods were understood in trade or by dealers, and no evidence was recorded on that point. Since such evidence was necessary to decide whether the lathe fell within the specific entry or the residuary entry, the reference was answered in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether a lathe operable only with electric energy is classifiable as electrical goods under entry 20 of Schedule C to the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, and whether the classification could be sustained without evidence applying the common parlance test.

Analysis: The controlling principle for classification under sales tax entries is the common parlance or commercial sense test, not a technical or scientific test. A machine does not become electrical goods merely because it can operate only with electric energy. The Commissioner and the Tribunal proceeded on that erroneous basis and did not examine how the goods were understood in trade or by dealers. No evidence was recorded on the relevant common parlance issue, although that evidence was necessary to determine whether the lathes fell within the specific entry or the residuary entry.

Conclusion: The lathe was not shown to be electrical goods on the basis adopted below, and the Tribunal erred in deciding the matter without the necessary evidence or remand for recording such evidence. The reference was answered in favour of the assessee.

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