Commercial classification of goods as firewood depends on the bargain and use, not mere capability as fuel.

Commodity entries in a sales tax schedule are construed in their popular or commercial sense, with the real inquiry being the subject-matter of the bargain. Goods supplied under agreements requiring approved varieties of wood, debarking, splitting, fixed dimensions, and supply to a rayon manufacturer as raw material were held not to be firewood under item 55 of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963. Because the supply was for manufacturing use rather than ordinary fuel, the concessional rate for firewood was unavailable and the Revenue's classification was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the goods supplied to the purchaser under the agreement were "firewood" falling under item 55 of the First Schedule to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 and entitled to the concessional rate of tax.

Analysis: Entries in a sales tax schedule are ordinarily to be understood in their popular or commercial sense, and where the language or context makes use relevant, the real question is the subject-matter of the bargain. The agreements here did not contemplate an ordinary sale of firewood for fuel. They required approved varieties of wood, excluded unspecified woods, insisted on debarking, splitting, and fixed dimensions, and were framed for supply to a rayon manufacturer as raw material. In such a commercial setting, the material could not be treated as firewood merely because wood is capable of being used as fuel in some other circumstance.

Conclusion: The commodity supplied was not firewood within item 55, and the concessional rate was not available; the Revenue's view was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: A commodity entry expressed in ordinary terms must be applied according to commercial understanding, and where the parties' bargain shows that the goods were specially specified and procured as raw material for manufacture rather than as fuel, the goods cannot be classified under the entry for firewood.

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