Sales tax classification of cement pipes depends on their actual use, excluding non-sanitary irrigation pipes from the sanitary-pipes entry.

Classification of cement pipes under the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act turned on the actual nature and use of the goods. The Court applied earlier Division Bench rulings that entry 56, covering "all types of pipes and pipe fittings," extends to pipes used for sanitary purposes, but not to conduit pipes for electrical wiring. On the Tribunal's factual finding that the cement pipes were used for irrigation and not for sanitary purposes, the goods fell outside entry 56 and within entry 53.

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Issues: Whether cement pipes manufactured and sold by the assessee were taxable under entry 56 of Part II of Schedule II appended to the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1958, or were liable to be taxed under entry 53 instead.

Analysis: The controlling test was the nature and use of the goods as covered by the relevant entry. The Court followed earlier Division Bench decisions holding that the expression "all types of pipes and pipe fittings" in entry 56 embraces pipes used for sanitary purposes, while conduit pipes used for casing electrical wiring are outside that entry. On the facts found by the Tribunal, the cement pipes were not used for sanitary purposes but were used for irrigation. That finding brought the goods outside entry 56 and within entry 53.

Conclusion: Cement pipes sold by the assessee were not taxable under entry 56 of Part II of Schedule II appended to the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1958.

Ratio Decidendi: Classification under the sales tax schedule depends on the actual nature and use of the goods, and pipes used for non-sanitary purposes do not fall within the entry covering sanitary pipes and fittings.

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