Rubber wood qualifies as softwood under the packing-case exemption, and the later amendment was clarificatory.

Rubber wood used in packing cases was treated as falling within the generic expression "softwood" in the exemption notification for purchase turnover used in manufacture of packing cases. The Court noted that the assessee had exported the packing cases and borne central sales tax on the sale turnover, satisfying the exemption condition. It further held that the later amendment bringing rubber wood within the notification was clarificatory, introduced to remove doubt and litigation rather than to create a new benefit. The exemption therefore applied from the original notification date.

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Issues: Whether rubber wood purchased and used in the manufacture of packing cases fell within the expression "softwood" in item 41 of Notification S.R.O. No. 1090/1999, and whether the subsequent amendment by S.R.O. No. 278/2004 was merely clarificatory so as to extend the exemption to the assessee for the earlier period.

Analysis: The exemption under item 41 applied to the turnover of purchase of softwood used in the manufacture of packing cases. The assessee had manufactured and sold packing cases outside the State and had suffered central sales tax on the sale turnover, satisfying the basic condition for the exemption. The dispute turned on whether rubber wood was already encompassed within the generic expression "softwood" or whether it was brought in for the first time only by the later amendment. The Court treated softwood as a broad generic category of wood, noted that untreated rubber wood is a perishable softwood commonly used for packing cases, and viewed the later amendment as introduced to avoid doubt and litigation rather than to create a new benefit.

Conclusion: Rubber wood answered the description of softwood under the original notification. The amendment was clarificatory, and the assessee was entitled to exemption from the date of Notification S.R.O. No. 1090/1999.

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