Ejusdem generis limits sales tax classification of Thermocell, keeping it outside the specific entry and export deduction relief.

Item 17 of Schedule II to the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 was interpreted as covering cushions, mattresses, pillows and similar articles made wholly or partly of artificial or synthetic resin and plastic foam. The Tribunal applied ejusdem generis and treated "other articles" as confined to the same genus as the specific items. Thermocell, used as packing and insulation material, was held outside that class despite containing synthetic resin and plastic foam and having shock-absorbing qualities. The export deduction claim also failed because no adequate material showed a penultimate sale in the course of export, and no specific relief was sought against that part of the assessment.

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Issues: Whether Thermocell fell within item 17 of Schedule II to the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 so as to be taxable at the higher rate, and whether any interference was called for in respect of the claimed export deduction.

Analysis: Item 17 covered cushions, mattresses, pillows and other articles made wholly or partly of artificial or synthetic resin and plastic foam. The decisive question was whether the residuary words "other articles" could be extended to Thermocell by applying ejusdem generis. The expression requires the general words to be confined to the same class as the specific words, and the surrounding entry indicated a genus of articles of the same nature as cushions, mattresses and pillows. Thermocell, though containing synthetic resin and plastic foam, was used as packing and insulation material and did not belong to that genus merely because some components overlapped or because it might possess shock-absorbing qualities. On the export deduction claim, no adequate material was shown to substantiate a penultimate sale in the course of export, and the prayer before the Tribunal did not specifically seek relief against that part of the assessment.

Conclusion: Thermocell could not be classified under item 17 of Schedule II and could be taxed only at the general rate of 8 per cent. No interference was warranted with the assessment insofar as the export deduction was concerned.

Ratio Decidendi: General words in a taxing entry are confined by ejusdem generis to the same class as the specific words only where a clear genus is disclosed; a product outside that genus cannot be brought within the entry merely because it shares some physical characteristics with the specified articles.

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