Common parlance test excludes safety fuse from explosive classification for sales tax entry coverage.

Safety fuse was not treated as an "explosive" for sales tax classification under Entry 81-B of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957. The Court applied common parlance rather than the wider definition in the Indian Explosives Act, 1884, and noted that a safety fuse burns to ignite other explosives but does not itself explode. On that basis, it could not be brought within the entry for blasting gunpowder and other mechanical explosives, and was taxable outside Entry 81-B.

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Issues: Whether safety fuse falls within Entry 81-B of the Second Schedule to the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957, and is therefore liable to single point tax at 6 per cent.

Analysis: The relevant entry covered blasting gun powder and other mechanical explosives. Although the definition of "explosive" under the Indian Explosives Act, 1884 included fuses, the Court held that classification for sales tax purposes must be determined according to common parlance. The statutory definition of "safety fuse" under the Explosives Rules, 1983 showed that it is a fuse for igniting other explosives which burns but does not itself explode. On that basis, and in ordinary commercial understanding, safety fuse was not regarded as an explosive. Since it was not an explosive in common parlance, it could not be brought within Entry 81-B.

Conclusion: Safety fuse does not fall within Entry 81-B of the Second Schedule to the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957, and is not liable to single point tax under that entry.

Final Conclusion: The revisional authority and the Tribunal were correct in treating the turnover of safety fuse as taxable otherwise than under Entry 81-B, and the revision was liable to fail.

Ratio Decidendi: For sales tax classification, goods must be understood in common parlance, and an item that does not itself explode cannot be treated as an explosive merely because it contains a small explosive component or is used to ignite explosives.

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