Common and commercial parlance test excludes homoeo globules from sugar exemption under VAT law.

Homoeo globules made from pharmaceutical grade sugar were not treated as "sugar manufactured or made in India" under Sl. No. 35A of Schedule A to the West Bengal Value Added Tax Act, 2003. The taxing entry was construed according to common and commercial parlance, meaning the product had to be understood as buyers and dealers in the market would understand it. Because the goods were marketed and used as a vehicle for homoeopathic medicine, not as ordinary sugar or a sweetening material, they were regarded as a distinct commercial commodity. The exemption was denied and the product remained taxable as an unspecified item.

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Issues: Whether homoeo globules manufactured from sugar fall within Sl. No. 35A of Schedule A to the West Bengal Value Added Tax Act, 2003 as "sugar manufactured or made in India" and are therefore exempt from tax.

Analysis: The decisive test was the meaning of "sugar" in common and commercial parlance, not its chemical composition alone. The item in question was marketed and understood as homoeo globules prepared from pharmaceutical grade sugar, and was used as a vehicle for homoeopathic medicine, not as ordinary sugar or sweetening material. The earlier exemption history and the manufacturing process did not change the market perception of the product. The reasoning applied the settled principle that words in a taxing entry must be construed as understood by the people who deal with them in the market.

Conclusion: Homoeo globules do not fall within Sl. No. 35A of Schedule A to the West Bengal Value Added Tax Act, 2003. They are a distinct commercial commodity and are taxable as an unspecified item. The challenge failed.

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