Common parlance test for goods classification kept stationery items outside paint, adhesive and residuary entries.

Classification of goods under the M.P. General Sales Tax Act was to be determined by common parlance, not by scientific or technical description. On the facts, Fevicol MR was treated as a stationery shop item used for pasting envelopes, papers and cards, while Fevicryl acrylic colours were treated as goods sold in stationery outlets for drawing and colouring in educational settings. Entry 21 was read broadly to cover stationery articles unless specifically excluded, and the later adhesive entry did not displace that specific classification without express exclusion or amendment.

---

---

Issues: Whether Fevicol MR and Fevicryl acrylic colours are classifiable as stationery articles under entry 21 of Part IV of Schedule II of the M.P. General Sales Tax Act, 1958, or whether they fall under the competing entries for paints, adhesives, or the residuary category.

Analysis: Classification under a taxing entry must be made according to the popular or common parlance meaning of the goods and not by a scientific or technical description. On the facts found, Fevicol MR was sold and used as a stationery shop item for pasting envelopes, papers and cards, and Fevicryl acrylic colours were sold and used in stationery outlets for drawing and colouring work by students and others in educational and similar settings. Entry 21 was construed as a broad expression covering all stationery articles except the specifically excluded items, and the later adhesive entry did not displace the specific stationery entry in the absence of an express exclusion or amendment.

Conclusion: Both goods were held to be stationery articles taxable under entry 21 of Part IV of Schedule II, and not under the paint, adhesive, or residuary entries.

---