Ordinary commercial meaning of undefined tax terms limits liability for eucalyptus tree sales outside forest-owner classification.

A taxing notification applied only to sales by the Forest Department, the Uttar Pradesh Forest Corporation, a private owner of forest, or an importer. Because "private owner of forest" was undefined, the expression had to be read in its ordinary and commercial sense, consistent with the settled rule for taxing entries. On that approach, eucalyptus trees grown at a manufacturing site did not make the dealer a private owner of forest, and tax could not be imposed by extending the wording or relying on broad legislative intention. The sale therefore fell outside the notification and was not taxable.

---

---

Issues: Whether the sale of eucalyptus trees by a dealer who was neither the owner of a forest nor an importer could be taxed under Notification No. 6071 dated 30.09.1983 as a sale by a private owner of forest.

Analysis: The notification fastened tax on sales by the Forest Department, the Uttar Pradesh Forest Corporation, a private owner of forest, or an importer. The expression "private owner of forest" was not defined in the Act or the notification, so it had to be understood in its ordinary and commercial sense. The Court applied the settled rule that entries in taxing statutes and notifications must be construed as they are understood in common parlance, not in a technical, scientific, or expansive sense. On that approach, plantation of eucalyptus trees at a manufacturing site did not convert the dealer into a private owner of forest, and the Tribunal's broad interpretation based on legislative intention was unsustainable.

Conclusion: The sale of eucalyptus trees by the applicant did not fall within the expression "sale by private owner of forest" and was not taxable under the notification.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a taxing notification uses an undefined expression, it must be construed in its ordinary and commercial sense, and tax liability cannot be imposed by stretching the meaning of the words or by invoking supposed legislative intention.

---