Entry tax classification turns on specific schedule coverage; medicinal anti-lice product and starch were not taxable by implication.

Entry tax under the M.P. Entry Tax Act could not be imposed on Mediker and starch because the goods were not specifically covered by the relevant schedules. Mediker was treated as a medicinal anti-lice product used in shampoo form for treatment, not as a general cosmetic shampoo, so ejusdem generis did not justify classification as a cosmetic. Starch was likewise not shown to fall within the taxable chemical entry. In a taxing statute, liability must arise from the charging provision and the applicable schedule, and tax cannot be imposed by implication; the levy, demand notice, and classification orders were therefore quashed.

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Issues: Whether Mediker and starch were liable to entry tax under the M.P. Entry Tax Act, 1976 despite not being specifically covered by the relevant schedules, and whether the authorities were justified in classifying Mediker as a cosmetic and starch as a chemical for levy of tax.

Analysis: The liability under the Entry Tax Act had to be tested on the charging provision and the scheduled entries. The articles in question were not specifically covered by Schedules I and II. Mediker was found to be essentially a medicinal anti-lice product, used in shampoo form only for treatment and not as a general cosmetic shampoo, and therefore the principle of ejusdem generis did not support its classification as a cosmetic. Starch was also not shown to fall within the taxable chemical entry. In a taxing statute, where the article does not fall within the charging provision and the applicable schedule, tax cannot be imposed by implication.

Conclusion: The levy of entry tax on Mediker and starch was held unsustainable, and the impugned orders and demand notice were quashed in favour of the assessee.

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