Rose water is not an essence under the sales tax schedule; common parlance meaning and lack of concentration control the classification.

Rose water was held not to fall within entry 139 of the First Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 as an essence. Applying the ordinary and common parlance meaning of "essence", the Madras HC found that rose water is not a concentrated preparation and therefore does not answer that description. The later amendment to the entry was treated as irrelevant to the assessment year in question. The Tribunal's view that rose water contained essence and was covered by the entry was rejected.

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Issues: Whether rose water falls within entry 139 of the First Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 as an essence.

Analysis: Entry 139 covered essences and squashes. The Court held that rose water is not a concentrated preparation and cannot be treated as an essence in its ordinary or common parlance meaning. The later amendment to the entry was held irrelevant to the assessment year in question. The Tribunal's view that rose water contained essence and therefore fell within the entry was rejected.

Conclusion: Rose water does not fall under entry 139 of the First Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959.

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