Commercial meaning of foodgrains prevails: dalia treated as broken wheat and taxed as foodgrains under sales tax law.

In the absence of an applicable deeming provision, an undefined taxing entry must be construed according to the ordinary and commercial understanding of the commodity. On that basis, dalia was treated as broken wheat and not as a distinct commercial commodity separate from foodgrains, so it remained taxable as foodgrains at the applicable 4 per cent rate. The Court therefore upheld the Tribunal's classification and rejected the claim that dalia attracted a different tax rate.

---

---

Issues: Whether dalia is taxable at the rate of 4 per cent as foodgrains or is a distinct commodity liable to tax at a different rate.

Analysis: The dispute concerned assessment year 1983-84. The Court held that the earlier Explanation II to section 3-D, which treated split or processed foodgrains as different from unsplit or unprocessed foodgrains, had no application to the relevant period after 14 November 1971. In the absence of that deeming provision, the commodity had to be understood in its ordinary and commercial sense. On that basis, dalia was treated as broken wheat and not as a separate commercial commodity distinct from foodgrains. Applying the principle that an undefined article in a taxing entry is construed as understood in common parlance, the Court found no justification for treating dalia differently from foodgrains.

Conclusion: Dalia is taxable as foodgrains at the rate of 4 per cent and is not a distinct taxable commodity.

Final Conclusion: The revision failed because the Tribunal's classification of dalia as foodgrains was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: In the absence of an applicable deeming provision, an entry in a sales tax notification must be construed according to the popular and commercial understanding of the commodity, and broken wheat retains the character of foodgrains.

---