Classification of stoneware pipes turns on intended use, and Revenue must prove sanitary fitting use for higher tax treatment.

Stoneware glazed pipes are classified as "sanitary and water fittings" only if their intended or actual use shows they were meant for sanitary applications such as lavatories, urinals, wash basins, sinks or bathrooms. Pipes laid underground for drainage or rain-water disposal do not fall within that description merely by their physical character. The Revenue bears the burden of proving the relevant sanitary use, and evidence limited to how purchasers were treated in their own assessments is insufficient for that purpose. On that basis, the higher tax rate under entry 102 could not be sustained.

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Issues: Whether stoneware glazed pipes sold by the assessee fell within entry 102 of the First Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 as "sanitary and water fittings" and were therefore taxable at the higher rate.

Analysis: The governing test was the purpose for which the pipes were meant to be used or were actually put to use. The expression "water supply and sanitary fittings" is to be understood in its contextual and popular sense, and pipes laid underground for drainage or rain-water disposal do not, by that description alone, become sanitary fittings. The burden lay on the Revenue to establish that the goods were meant for use in lavatories, urinals, wash basins, sinks or bathrooms. The material collected by the revisional authority, consisting only of the treatment accorded to purchasers in their own assessments, was insufficient to establish that the pipes sold by the assessee were intended for such sanitary use.

Conclusion: The pipes were not proved to be "sanitary and water fittings" within entry 102, and the higher rate of tax could not be sustained. The revision failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Classification of pipes as sanitary or water-supply fittings depends on their intended or actual use, and the burden to prove such use rests on the Revenue.

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