Stainless steel water filter treated as an appliance, not a utensil, so concessional sales tax benefit was denied.

A stainless steel water filter was held not to qualify as a stainless steel utensil under entry C-II-46 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act read with concessional notification entry 145(1). The article's principal function was filtering water, and it was capable of use beyond household kitchens, so it was not ordinarily understood in popular parlance as a utensil. Because the exemption was a narrower provision for household stainless steel utensils, it had to be construed strictly, with doubt resolved in favour of the Revenue. The item was therefore characterised as an appliance, and concessional treatment was denied.

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Issues: Whether stainless steel water filter is a stainless steel utensil covered by entry C-II-46 of the Schedule to the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959 and entitled to the concessional rate under notification entry 145(1) issued under section 41 of the Act.

Analysis: The item was made of stainless steel but its principal function was to filter water, not merely to serve as a household utensil. It was capable of use in kitchens as well as in offices and other places, and therefore was not confined to household use. Entry C-II-46 was a broader taxing entry, while notification entry 145(1) was a narrower exemption provision intended only for stainless steel utensils of the kind used for household purposes during the specified period. Such exemption had to be construed strictly, and any doubt was to be resolved in favour of the Revenue. On a functional and popular parlance assessment, the article was better characterised as an appliance than as a utensil.

Conclusion: The stainless steel water filter did not fall within entry C-II-46 read with notification entry 145(1); the question was answered in favour of the Revenue and against the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A goods entry granting concessional tax treatment for stainless steel utensils used for household purposes does not extend to an article whose principal function is as a filtering appliance and which is not ordinarily understood in popular parlance as a utensil.

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