Chemical fertilizer classification of rock phosphate upheld under sales tax entry 23, rejecting earlier unclassified goods treatment.

Rock phosphate was treated as a chemical fertilizer because it had been recognised as a fertilizer under the Fertilizer Control Order, and the Court accepted that it answered the description in entry 23 of the First Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957. The revenue's reliance on an earlier classification as unclassified goods was rejected because that earlier matter had not been decided on merits. The commodity was therefore brought within entry 23 as a chemical fertilizer, and the revision was dismissed.

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Issues: Whether rock phosphate was classifiable as a chemical fertilizer under entry 23 of the First Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957.

Analysis: Rock phosphate had been treated as a fertilizer under the Fertilizer Control Order. In that context, the Court accepted the view that the commodity answered the description of a chemical fertilizer and therefore fell within entry 23. The revenue's reliance on earlier classification as unclassified goods was not accepted, as there was no decision on merits in the earlier matter.

Conclusion: Rock phosphate was held to fall under entry 23 as a chemical fertilizer, and the revision was dismissed.

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