Readymade garment classification: pullovers and cardigans were taxable as garments, not unclassified hosiery goods.

Pullovers and cardigans made from acrylic and cashmilon yarn were treated as readymade garments for sales tax purposes because they are articles of clothing worn as dress or garment in the ordinary sense. The relevant notification taxed all kinds of readymade garments except woollen garments, and it did not expressly exclude hosiery articles. The classification therefore turned on the ordinary meaning of garments and the breadth of the notification, with prior decisions supporting inclusion of hosiery within that wider description. On that basis, pullovers and cardigans fell within the taxable entry for readymade garments and were not to be assessed as unclassified goods.

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Issues: Whether pullovers and cardigans manufactured from acrylic and cashmilon yarn are to be classified as readymade garments or as unclassified hosiery goods for the purpose of sales tax.

Analysis: The relevant notification classified all kinds of readymade garments, except woollen garments, as a taxable item under the Schedule appended to the notification issued under section 3-A of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, 1948. The Court held that pullovers and cardigans are articles of clothing and therefore garments in the ordinary sense. Since they are readymade and used as dress or clothing, they fall within the description of readymade garments. The notification did not expressly exclude hosiery articles from that entry, and prior decisions had treated hosiery as capable of falling within the wider description of garments.

Conclusion: Pullovers and cardigans are readymade garments and are taxable accordingly, not as unclassified goods.

Ratio Decidendi: Articles of clothing intended to be worn as dress or garment fall within the expression readymade garments unless expressly excluded, even if they may also answer the description of hosiery.

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