Common parlance test brings durries within textile exemption under sales tax notifications.

Textiles not being defined in the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, the exemption notifications were construed in their popular or common parlance sense. The governing test was whether the article is understood in trade and by purchasers as a woven fabric, not its use, size, weight, colour, or mode of weaving. Applying that test, durries, being woven fabrics made from yarn or threads of cotton, wool, silk, rayon, nylon or similar material, fall within "all textiles" and "all varieties of textiles". Their sale was therefore treated as covered by the statutory exemption from sales tax.

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Issues: Whether durries fall within the expressions "all textiles" and "all varieties of textiles" in the exemption notifications issued under section 4 of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954.

Analysis: The expression "textiles" was not defined in the Act and had therefore to be construed in its popular or common parlance sense. The governing test was whether the article was understood in trade and by purchasers as a woven fabric, since the use, size, weight, colour, or mode of weaving does not determine the character of the article as textile. On that principle, durries, being woven fabrics made by weaving yarn or threads of cotton, wool, silk, rayon, nylon, or other material, answer the description of textiles. The Court applied the common parlance test to the exemption notifications and treated the article as covered by the statutory exemption.

Conclusion: Durries are textiles within the meaning of the notifications and their sale is exempt from sales tax; the question was answered in the affirmative in favour of the assessee.

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