Tariff entry wording controls classification of electric meters, with "that is to say" exhaustive and "including" illustrative.

Electric meters were classified under the tariff entries of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act by applying the language of the relevant schedule entries. For entry 38, the phrase "that is to say" made the pre-amendment list exhaustive, so electric meters were excluded for the earlier assessment years; after the substitution of "including", the entry became illustrative and covered them for later years. Separately, electric meters were treated as machinery operated by electricity under entry 83 for the earlier years, because they function by electrical operation and measure electricity. Classification therefore varied by assessment year and by the wording of the tariff entry.

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Issues: (i) Whether electric meters fell within entry 38 of the First Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 prior to the amendment substituting "including" for "that is to say". (ii) Whether electric meters fell within entry 83 of the First Schedule as machinery operated by electricity.

Issue (i): Whether electric meters fell within entry 38 of the First Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 prior to the amendment substituting "including" for "that is to say".

Analysis: The general words in entry 38 were capable of covering electric meters, but the phrase "that is to say" made the enumeration following it exhaustive. Since electric meters were not specifically included in the enumerated sub-entries, the pre-amendment entry did not extend to them. After the amendment, the substitution of "including" made the listed items illustrative, so the position changed for the later assessment years.

Conclusion: Electric meters did not fall within entry 38 for the assessment years 1976-77 and 1982-83, but they did fall within entry 38 for the assessment years 1983-84 and 1984-85.

Issue (ii): Whether electric meters fell within entry 83 of the First Schedule as machinery operated by electricity.

Analysis: Entry 83 covered machinery operated by electricity, and the reasoning treated electric meters as machines because they function by electrical operation and are used to measure electricity. On that basis, the meters were regarded as machinery within the entry before the amendment to entry 38.

Conclusion: Electric meters fell within entry 83 for the earlier assessment years and were taxable as machinery.

Final Conclusion: The revisions succeeded only in part, with the earlier assessment years going in favour of the Revenue and the later assessment years going in favour of the assessee on the construction of the tariff entries.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a tariff entry uses the phrase "that is to say", the enumeration is exhaustive; where it uses "including", the enumeration is illustrative, and classification must follow that legislative choice of words.

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