Classification of brick tiles under a wide tile entry prevailed over the narrower bricks entry in the notification.

Brick tiles supplied under the contract were treated as a distinct commodity from bricks because they were separately described in the contract, and the notification contained an unqualified entry for "tiles of all kinds." The Court reasoned that the fact that brick tiles may be manufactured in a similar manner to bricks did not exclude them from the wider tile entry, and the narrower brick entry did not apply where the goods did not truly answer that description. The classification was therefore under entry 96 as tiles of all kinds, not under entry 13 as bricks, and the Tribunal's classification was set aside for consequential orders.

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Issues: Whether brick tiles manufactured and supplied under the contract fell under entry 13 as "bricks" or under entry 96 as "tiles of all kinds" in Notification No. ST-11-332/X-1012-1971 dated 15th November, 1971.

Analysis: The decisive factor was the nature of the commodity as described in the contract and the scope of the notification entries. Brick tiles were separately specified from bricks in the supply contract, indicating that they were treated as a distinct commodity. Entry 96 covered "tiles of all kinds" without any exception for tiles made from the same raw material or by the same process as bricks. The fact that brick tiles could be manufactured in a manner similar to bricks did not take them out of the wide language of entry 96. The reasoning that a lower tax entry should apply only if the commodity truly fell under both entries did not assist the assessee, because the Court found that the item did not simultaneously answer to entry 13 as bricks.

Conclusion: Brick tiles were held to be taxable under entry 96 as "tiles of all kinds" and not under entry 13 as "bricks".

Final Conclusion: The revision succeeded, the classification adopted by the Tribunal was set aside, and the matter was sent back for consequential orders in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a commodity is separately described in the contract and is comprehended by a specific and unqualified entry in the notification, it must be classified under that entry and not under a different entry for a related but narrower commodity.

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