Common parlance test treats old aluminium vessels bought for reprocessing as scrap, denying the vessel exemption.

Old aluminium vessels purchased only for melting and reworking were treated as scrap for purchase tax purposes under the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, because their commercial identity in common parlance had ceased to be that of usable vessels. Applying the common parlance test, the court noted that articles bought for their metal value and reprocessing do not retain the exemption available to aluminium vessels, so such purchases fall within the scrap classification for tax purposes.

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Issues: Whether old aluminium vessels purchased by the assessee were liable to purchase tax as scrap under section 6 of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957.

Analysis: The assessment years involved purchases of aluminium scrap and old aluminium vessels, both used in the manufacture of new aluminium vessels. The decisive question was whether old aluminium vessels, though earlier usable as vessels, had lost that character and were purchased only for their metal value for reprocessing. Applying the common parlance test for sales tax expressions, the Court held that old vessels purchased merely for melting and reworking did not retain the commercial identity of aluminium vessels. They were therefore properly treated as scrap, and the exemption applicable to aluminium vessels did not protect such purchases.

Conclusion: The old aluminium vessels were liable to tax as scrap under section 6, and the assessee's contention failed.

Final Conclusion: The appeals were rejected because the disputed purchases were correctly brought to purchase tax as scrap and not as exempt aluminium vessels.

Ratio Decidendi: For sales tax purposes, the classification of goods depends on their commercial identity in common parlance, and articles purchased only for their metal value for reprocessing may be treated as scrap even if they were formerly usable as the original exempt article.

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