Statutory classification of gulab jal as ayurvedic medicine kept it within the specific tax entry, not the residuary rate.

Gulab jal manufactured by an assessee holding the relevant ayurvedic licence was treated as an ayurvedic medicine under the statutory schedule, so it fell within the specific sales tax entry and not the residuary entry. The court applied the principle that revenue cannot ignore the statutory classification of a product unless the entry has been deleted or altered. On that basis, the product was taxable at 3% under the specific entry rather than at 12% under the residuary entry.

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Issues: Whether gulab jal manufactured by an assessee engaged in ayurvedic medicines was classifiable as an ayurvedic medicine under the specific sales tax entry and taxable at 3% instead of under the residuary entry at 12%.

Analysis: The product was manufactured by an assessee holding the relevant licence and was treated in the statutory schedule as a drug or medicine. The decisive consideration was the statutory classification of the product and the principle that revenue could not disregard that classification unless the entry itself was deleted or altered. On the facts, the product fell within the specific entry for ayurvedic medicine rather than the residuary entry.

Conclusion: The product was rightly held to be an ayurvedic medicine taxable at 3% under the specific entry, and not at 12% under the residuary entry.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a product is recognised by the statutory schedule as a medicine or drug and the assessee's manufacture is under the relevant licence, it must be taxed under the specific entry and cannot be shifted to the residuary entry without a statutory basis.

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