Textile classification turns on ordinary commercial meaning; cotton bandings and ropes were excluded, while yarn status required further factual inquiry.

Cotton bandings and cotton ropes were examined for classification under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act. The ordinary commercial meaning of "textiles" was applied, requiring more than mere twisting or grouping of yarn; as articles used for tying or fastening, they were held not to fall within item 4 of the Third Schedule. On the alternative contention, cotton yarn does not cease to be yarn merely because it is twisted into strands, but the decisive question was whether the goods remained commercially the same and attracted a fresh single-point levy. That factual issue was not finally determined and was remitted for fresh consideration.

---

---

Issues: (i) Whether cotton bandings and cotton ropes are "textiles" within item 4 of the Third Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959. (ii) Whether the goods retain the character of "cotton yarn" under item 3 of the Second Schedule and, if so, whether the sales are first sales or second sales liable to single-point levy.

Issue (i): Whether cotton bandings and cotton ropes are "textiles" within item 4 of the Third Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959.

Analysis: The entry was construed in its ordinary and popular sense, not in a technical or scientific sense. The article must answer the common understanding of textiles and must ordinarily be a product in which spinning and weaving or an equivalent process produces a definite patterned commodity. Mere twisting or grouping of yarn is not enough. Applying that test, the cotton bandings and cotton ropes sold by the assessees were treated as articles intended for tying or fastening and not as textiles in the sense in which the market ordinarily understands that expression.

Conclusion: The goods are not textiles within item 4 of the Third Schedule and the assessee's contention on this point fails.

Issue (ii): Whether the goods retain the character of "cotton yarn" under item 3 of the Second Schedule and, if so, whether the sales are first sales or second sales liable to single-point levy.

Analysis: Cotton yarn does not lose its character merely because it is twisted or formed into a bunch of strands; but the decisive inquiry is whether the product remains capable of being used as yarn for manufacture of textiles. That question was not examined by the Tribunal because the contention was raised for the first time before the Court. Since the record did not permit a final finding on whether the goods were commercially different from the yarn purchased and whether they attracted a fresh single-point levy, further factual determination was necessary.

Conclusion: The matter on this issue was remitted to the Tribunal for fresh consideration.

Final Conclusion: The assessees failed on the principal exemption claim, but the alternative yarn issue required factual inquiry and was sent back for decision, with costs awarded to the revenue.

Ratio Decidendi: An article is not "textiles" merely because yarn is twisted or grouped into a rope-like form; the classification depends on the ordinary commercial understanding of the entry and on whether the product remains fit for use as yarn or as a textile-manufacturing input.

---