Glass sheets and panes are not glassware under sales tax entry, so higher tax rate does not apply.

Glass sheets and glass panes do not fall within the ordinary or commercially understood meaning of "glassware" in entry 23 of the First Schedule to the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941. The term "glassware" refers to articles of use made of glass, especially containers or vessels, and cannot be extended to every product made from glass. On that construction, cutting glass sheets into window panes does not amount to fabrication into glassware, so sales of those goods are not taxable under that entry. The issue was decided in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether glass sheets and glass panes fall within the expression "glassware" in entry 23 of the First Schedule to the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941, so as to attract tax at the higher rate.

Analysis: In construing entries in a taxing statute, words are to be given their ordinary and commercially understood meaning. The expression "glassware" denotes articles of use made of glass, particularly containers or vessels, and not every article or product made from glass. Glass sheets and glass panes are distinct from glassware in trade and common parlance. Cutting window panes from glass sheets is not fabrication into glassware, and the broader entry cannot be extended merely because the goods are made of glass. The reasoning that raw glass sheets become glassware on being cut into panes was not accepted.

Conclusion: Glass sheets and glass panes are not "glassware" under entry 23, and turnover from their sale cannot be taxed under that entry. The issue is decided in favour of the assessee.

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