Common parlance interpretation of exemption entries extended sales tax relief to elastic tapes treated as marketable tapes.

Exemption entries in taxing statutes must be construed in their common and popular sense, not by technical or manufacturing distinctions. Applying that approach, the expression "tapes" in the sales tax exemption notification was held wide enough to include elastic tapes, because market identity as a tape was decisive and the raw material used was not. On that construction, elastic tapes fell within the exempted entry for "tapes, niwars and laces", and the denial of exemption was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether elastic tapes fall within the exempted entry for "tapes, niwars and laces" in the exemption notification issued under section 12 of the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1958.

Analysis: Exemption entries in taxing statutes are to be construed according to their common and popular meaning and not in a technical sense. The expression "tapes" in the notification was held to be wide enough to cover tapes made with elastic, because the decisive factor is the commercial identity of the goods in the market and not the raw material used in their manufacture. On that construction, the notification was understood to extend to all kinds of tapes sold in the market as tapes, unless the notification itself restricted the entry to a particular material.

Conclusion: Elastic tapes are covered by the exempted entry and are entitled to exemption from sales tax.

Final Conclusion: The assessment and revisional orders were unsustainable to the extent they denied exemption on elastic tapes, and the petitioner was entitled to relief.

Ratio Decidendi: An exemption entry describing goods by their marketable commodity name must be interpreted in common parlance, and if the commercial article falls within that description, variation in raw material does not by itself take it outside the exemption.

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