Motor vehicle classification turns on primary function: a fork-lift truck used for stacking goods fell under the residuary entry.

An electric powered fork-lift truck used mainly for stacking goods within factory premises was held not to fall within the motor vehicle entry in Schedule C under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959. The decisive test was its primary function in common parlance: a motor vehicle under that entry is one intended to transport persons or goods over a substantial distance, whereas a machine primarily meant for vertical lifting and internal movement does not answer that description. It therefore fell under the residuary entry in Schedule E. The classification turned on dominant use and ordinary commercial meaning, not on the mere fact that the machine was self-propelled.

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Issues: Whether an electric powered fork-lift truck falls within entry 58 of Schedule C as a motor vehicle or within the residuary entry 22 of Schedule E under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959.

Analysis: Entry 58 covered motor vehicles and specified classes of road-going transport vehicles. The decisive consideration was the nature and primary use of the fork-lift truck. The materials showed that it was used mainly for stacking goods within the factory premises, with only very limited movement and no substantial transport of goods over distance. On a common understanding of the term, a motor vehicle under the entry is one whose primary function is to transport persons or goods over a sizeable distance. A contrivance primarily meant for vertical lifting and stacking, even if motor-driven, does not answer that description.

Conclusion: The fork-lift truck does not fall within entry 58 of Schedule C and is covered by the residuary entry 22 of Schedule E. The question referred is answered in the affirmative.

Ratio Decidendi: Classification under a motor-vehicle entry depends on the vehicle's primary function in common parlance, and a motor-driven machine used mainly for stacking goods within premises is not a motor vehicle merely because it can move on its own power.

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