Popular and commercial meaning governs fiscal classification of detergent soap, placing it within the soap entry.

In the absence of a statutory definition, fiscal classification turns on the popular or commercial meaning of the goods rather than their scientific composition. A product marketed and used as detergent soap was treated as soap because it was understood in trade and consumer parlance as a washing and cleaning agent, and its functional character outweighed the absence of a substantial soap base. A later amendment adding detergents to the soap entry did not control the pre-amendment position, but it did not exclude detergent soap from the ordinary meaning of soap. Accordingly, the product fell within the soap entry and not the residuary detergent entry.

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Issues: Whether the assessee's product, marketed as detergent soap and used for washing, fell within entry 34 of Schedule II, Part A to the Gujarat Sales Tax Act, 1969 as soap, or under the residuary entry 13 of Schedule III as detergent.

Analysis: The term "soap" was not defined in the Act. For classification under a fiscal entry, the controlling guide is the meaning in common or commercial parlance, and not the scientific composition of the article. The decisive test was therefore whether the product was understood and used as a washing or cleaning agent in the market. On the materials, the product was sold and used as soap, and the absence of a substantial soap base did not displace its popular identity or its functional character. The subsequent amendment including detergents in entry 34 did not govern the pre-amendment position, but it did not justify excluding detergent soap from the ordinary meaning of soap.

Conclusion: The product was covered by entry 34 of Schedule II, Part A to the Gujarat Sales Tax Act, 1969 and not by the residuary entry 13 of Schedule III. The answer was in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue.

Ratio Decidendi: In the absence of a statutory definition, a fiscal entry must be construed according to the popular or commercial meaning of the goods, and an article used and known as soap in trade and in consumer understanding will fall within the entry for soap even if its scientific composition differs from traditional soap.

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