Commercial meaning of "firewood" denied exemption for Karuvelan wood sold for pulp making.

Karuvelan wood sold to a paper manufacturing industry was held not to qualify as "firewood" under the sales tax exemption notification, because the term had to be understood in its common and commercial sense and not as any wood capable of burning. The Court found that Karuvelan wood was a distinct commercial commodity with multiple uses, and its sale for pulp making did not show that it was sold as firewood. A prior Supreme Court ruling on the same notification and similar goods was treated as controlling, so the exemption claim failed.

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Issues: Whether "Karuvelan wood" sold to a paper manufacturing industry was "firewood" within the meaning of Notification No. II(1)/Rev/386(g)/74 dated 04.03.1974 issued under section 17(1) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, and was therefore exempt from tax.

Analysis: The notification granted exemption only to firewood and did not define the expression. In the absence of a statutory definition, the commodity had to be understood in its common and commercial parlance. On that basis, the Court held that every kind of wood that can burn cannot be treated as firewood merely because it may be used as fuel. Karuvelan wood was found to be a distinct commercial commodity capable of multiple uses, and the sale to a paper manufacturer for pulp making did not establish that the goods were sold as firewood. The Court further held that the binding decision of the Supreme Court concerning the same notification and substantially similar goods required the same result, and the assessee could not rely on the earlier view in Mukesh Kumar Aggarwal & Co. to claim exemption on the facts of this case.

Conclusion: Karuvelan wood was not entitled to exemption as firewood under the notification, and the claim failed.

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