Statutory interpretation of sales tax entry confirms newspaper printing ink is covered despite missing punctuation.

Newspaper printing ink falls within Entry 45 of the First Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act because the entry, read in its statutory context, reflects an intent to include printing ink within the taxed goods. The absence of a comma between "lithographic" and "printing" does not narrow the entry, as punctuation is only a subsidiary aid and cannot defeat clear legislative meaning. An interpretation excluding printing ink was rejected because it would render the word "printing" redundant, contrary to the rule that every word in a statute should be given effect where possible. Commercial understanding and the nature of lithography as a printing process also supported inclusion.

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Issues: Whether newspaper printing ink falls within Entry 45 of the First Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, and whether the absence of a comma between the words "lithographic" and "printing" in that entry excludes printing ink from its scope.

Analysis: The relevant entries showed that the earlier schedule expressly included lithographic, printing and duplicating inks, and the amended Entry 45 continued the same sequence in different wording. The Court held that punctuation is only a subsidiary aid in construction and cannot control the plain meaning or the legislative intent where that intent is otherwise clear. Reading Entry 45 as excluding printing ink would render the word "printing" otiose, which is impermissible under settled principles that every word in a statute should be given effect if possible. The Court also noted that lithography is itself a printing process and that the commercial and ordinary understanding of the entry supported inclusion of the ink used for printing.

Conclusion: Newspaper printing ink is covered by Entry 45 of the First Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, and the omission of a comma does not exclude it from the entry.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the language of a taxing entry clearly shows legislative intent, punctuation cannot override that intent, and an interpretation that makes a word surplusage must be rejected if a reasonable construction giving effect to every word is available.

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