Commercial parlance classification brings bidi within tobacco products, sustaining entry tax and consequential penalty.

Bidi was treated as falling within the schedule expression "tobacco and tobacco products" under the Orissa Entry Tax Act because classification was guided by common commercial parlance and trade understanding; the absence of an express reference to bidi did not exclude it from the broader entry. On that footing, entry tax was held leviable on bidi, and the statutory penalty for non-payment was sustained because the good was found to be taxable and the Tribunal treated penalty as mandatory on the facts. The stated principle is that broad tariff or schedule language is applied according to ordinary market usage when classifying goods.

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Issues: (i) Whether bidi falls within the expression "tobacco and tobacco products" in Entry 16 of Part I of the Schedule to the Orissa Entry Tax Act; (ii) Whether penalty was sustainable for non-payment of entry tax on bidi.

Issue (i): Whether bidi falls within the expression "tobacco and tobacco products" in Entry 16 of Part I of the Schedule to the Orissa Entry Tax Act.

Analysis: The expression in the Schedule was construed by applying the common commercial parlance and trade-use approach. Bidi was treated as a tobacco-based product used and understood in ordinary market usage, and the absence of an express entry for bidi was held not to exclude it from the wider description "tobacco products".

Conclusion: The issue was answered against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

Issue (ii): Whether penalty was sustainable for non-payment of entry tax on bidi.

Analysis: Once bidi was held to be a scheduled good exigible to entry tax, the statutory penalty provision for non-payment was applied. The penalty was treated as mandatory on the facts found by the Tribunal.

Conclusion: The issue was answered against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

Final Conclusion: Bidi was held to be covered by the relevant schedule entry for tobacco and tobacco products, and the levy of tax and consequential penalty were sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a tariff or schedule entry uses broad commercial expressions, classification is determined by common parlance, and a product understood in trade as a tobacco product may be included even without specific nomenclature in the schedule.

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