Common parlance controls tax classification of biscuits, which fall outside cooked food and confectionery entries.

Classification under a taxing entry must be determined by the meaning the expression bears in common parlance within the statutory context, not by its widest dictionary sense. Biscuits were held not to be confectionery, and they were also not treated as cooked food because that expression refers to food ordinarily taken as part of a meal; biscuits are normally consumed as a snack or with tea. They therefore fall outside both concessional categories and are taxable only as an unclassified item at the general rate.

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Issues: Whether biscuits were classifiable as cooked food taxable at the concessional rate, as confectionery taxable at a different rate, or as an unclassified item taxable at the general rate.

Analysis: The classification had to be determined according to the meaning in the notification and the Act, not by the widest possible dictionary sense. Biscuits were already held not to be confectionery. For cooked food, the relevant expression was understood in common parlance as food ordinarily taken as part of a meal, and the Hindi expression used in the notification reinforced that understanding. Biscuits are normally taken as a snack or with tea and are not ordinarily treated as meal food.

Conclusion: Biscuits do not fall within cooked food or confectionery and are liable to tax only as an unclassified item at the general rate under section 3 of the Act.

Ratio Decidendi: Classification under a taxing entry must follow the meaning borne by the expression in common parlance in the statutory context, and not its widest literal sense, where ordinary commercial understanding points to a narrower classification.

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