Commercial parlance controls tax classification of paving bricks, which fall outside the concessional brick entry.

Paving bricks and paving blocks are outside the concessional entry for "all kinds of bricks" under the Karnataka VAT Schedule III. In construing a taxing entry, the court applied the ordinary and popular meaning in commercial parlance, read the words in their statutory context, and gave weight to the limiting phrase "and the like." It noted that construction bricks are ordinarily used for walls and similar building purposes, while paving bricks or blocks are used for flooring and have distinct functional characteristics. On that basis, the clarification and reassessment treating the goods under the residuary classification were sustained.

---

---

Issues: Whether paving bricks or paving blocks fall within Entry No. 2 of Schedule III of the Karnataka Value Added Tax Act as "all kinds of bricks" and are taxable at the concessional rate applicable to that entry.

Analysis: In interpreting a taxing entry, the ordinary and popular meaning as understood in commercial parlance governs, and the words used in the entry must be given effect in their statutory context. The expression "all kinds of bricks" is wide, but it is qualified by the accompanying words "and the like" and must be read in the setting of the entry as a whole. Bricks ordinarily denote goods used for construction of walls and similar building purposes, whereas paving bricks or blocks are normally used for flooring and possess distinct functional features, including interlocking use and a different mode of application. The general breadth of the expression cannot be stretched so as to ignore the contextual limitation and the commercial distinction between construction bricks and paving blocks.

Conclusion: Paving bricks and paving blocks do not fall within Entry No. 2 of Schedule III as bricks covered by the concessional entry, and the clarification and reassessment based on the residuary classification were sustained.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order of the Single Judge was set aside and the State's classification of paving bricks or blocks outside the concessional brick entry was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: In taxing entries, words of general import must be construed in their commercial parlance and in the statutory context, and an apparently wide entry may be confined by surrounding words and the ordinary trade understanding of the goods.

---