Common parlance test expands "all utensils" to household kitchen articles, including stoves and vacuum flasks, under the reduced tax entry.

The expression "all utensils" in the Karnataka VAT schedule was construed in its ordinary and popular sense because the Act gave no definition. Using the common parlance test and the inclusive wording "including pressure cookers and pans," the Court treated household and kitchen articles of utility as covered by the entry, even if they were not vessels in the narrow sense. Stainless steel LPG stoves, kerosene wick stoves and stainless steel vacuum flasks were therefore held to fall within the entry and attract tax at four per cent, subject only to the express exclusion for utensils made of precious metals.

---

---

Issues: Whether the expression "all utensils" in entry No. 5 of the Third Schedule to the Karnataka Value Added Tax Act, 2003 includes stainless steel LPG stove, kerosene wick stove and stainless steel vacuum flask, so as to attract tax at four per cent rather than at the rate under section 4(1)(b) of the Act.

Analysis: The expression "utensil" was not defined in the Act, so it had to be understood in its ordinary and popular sense. The inclusive wording "all utensils including pressure cookers and pans" showed that the entry was intended to enlarge, not restrict, the meaning of the term. The Court applied the common parlance test and held that an item used in the household or kitchen for a useful domestic purpose need not be confined to a vessel alone. A stove and a vacuum flask were treated as articles of common utility in the household and in the kitchen, and their occasional commercial use did not take them outside the entry. The legislative scheme also supported this view because the Third Schedule was meant to cover goods taxed at the reduced rate and the only express exclusion in the entry was utensils made of precious metals.

Conclusion: Yes. The expression "all utensils" includes the stainless steel LPG stove, kerosene wick stove and stainless steel vacuum flask, and they are taxable at four per cent under entry No. 5 of the Third Schedule.

Ratio Decidendi: In the absence of a statutory definition, a taxing entry using inclusive language must be construed in accordance with common parlance and legislative intent, and articles of household or kitchen utility fall within the entry unless expressly excluded.

---