Gold and silver ornaments remained within the notified class for sales tax at 7 per cent despite omission of the concessional entry.

Section 5(1) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947 empowered the State to prescribe different rates by notification for specified goods, and serial No. 27 was framed broadly to cover articles and wares made of gold, silver or specie. The omission of the earlier concessional serial No. 1 did not exclude gold and silver ornaments from that class. On a plain reading, such ornaments continued to fall within serial No. 27, so the notified rate of 7 per cent remained applicable rather than the general rate of 5 per cent.

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Issues: Whether gold and silver ornaments were taxable at 7 per cent under serial No. 27 of the notification list or only at the general rate of 5 per cent under section 5(1) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947 after omission of serial No. 1.

Analysis: Section 5(1) authorised the State Government to fix, by notification, a higher or lower rate for specified goods or classes of goods. Serial No. 27 was framed in wide terms covering all articles and wares made of gold, silver or specie. The deletion of serial No. 1 removed the earlier concessional entry, but it did not take gold and silver ornaments outside the ambit of serial No. 27. On a plain reading, ornaments made of gold and silver remained goods of the class described in serial No. 27, and the absence of a fresh notification was not decisive because the applicable notification already prescribed the rate for that class.

Conclusion: Gold and silver ornaments were rightly held taxable at 7 per cent under serial No. 27 with effect from 15 May 1970, and not at the general rate of 5 per cent.

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