Specific taxable entry prevails over general exemption; notification adding pan masala and gutka to tax was upheld.

A notification adding pan masala and gutka to the First Schedule of the Delhi Sales Tax Act, 1975 was upheld because the taxing scheme treated First Schedule goods as taxable and Third Schedule goods as exempt, and the impugned notification operated by creating a specific taxable entry rather than amending the exempt schedule. The court held that "tobacco" had to be understood with reference to the Central Excise framework, but a later specific entry could validly subject a commodity to tax even if it might also fall within a broader exempt description. The petition therefore failed, and the notification remained valid.

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Issues: Whether the notification inserting the entry for pan masala and gutka in the First Schedule to the Delhi Sales Tax Act, 1975 was invalid on the ground that gutka was already covered by the tobacco entry in the Third Schedule and hence exempt from tax.

Analysis: The Act created a taxing scheme under which goods in the First Schedule were taxable and goods in the Third Schedule were tax-free. Section 7 empowered the Lieutenant Governor to amend the Third Schedule by notification, but the impugned notification did not alter the Third Schedule; instead, it placed pan masala and gutka in the First Schedule as a specific taxable entry. The Court held that the meaning of tobacco had to be understood with reference to the Central Excise Act, 1944 and Chapter 24 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985, but the earlier authorities on withdrawal of exemption and the operation of specific entries showed that a later specific entry could validly bring a commodity to tax. The later Supreme Court decision relied upon by the petitioner was treated as distinguishable on facts, because it dealt with inclusion of gutka within pan masala, whereas the present entry separately named both commodities.

Conclusion: The notification was valid and the petition failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute authorises taxation by specifying goods in the taxable schedule, a later specific entry validly subjects the commodity to tax even if it may also answer a broader exempted description, and a specific taxable entry prevails over a general exempting entry.

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