TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1997 (7) TMI 567
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....er High Courts and came to the conclusion that the stand of the sales tax authorities was justified. Item 110 reads thus: Sl.No. Description of the goods Point of levy Rate of tax (per cent) 110 Paints, colours, dry distempers, varnishes and blacks, cellulose lacquers, polish including metal polishing bars (but not boot polish), pigments, indigo, enamels, cement based water Paints, oil-bound distemper, water pigments, finishes for leather, plastic emulsion paints, turpentine oil, bale oil, white oil and thinners. At the point of first sale 10 Item 138 covers dyes and chemicals not otherwise specified in the Schedule. Our attention was invited by the learned counsel for the assessees to the judgments of the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat High Courts and we now refer to them seriatim. 2. In N. Ganu Bhai v. Commissioner of Sales Tax, Madhya Pradesh [1975] 36 STC 421 (MP), the dispute was whether ultramarine blue, or "neel", was taxable under entry 25 of Part II of Schedule II of the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1958, or under the residuary entry in Part VI of Schedule II of that Act. The former entry at the relevant time cove....
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....ard had not gone into the question but had relied upon on an earlier decision where the Board had held that ultramarine blue could not be considered to be a pigment. (No details of the material that was before the Board on the earlier occasion are set out in the High Court's judgment). The High Court said that the word "pigment" in the relevant entry had been used along with dyes, paints, varnishes and dry colours. The dictionary meaning of the word "pigment" was "any substance used for colouring: that which gives colour to animal and vegetable tissues". Pigment brown, pigment caramine, pigment chrome yellow, etc., were used to convey colouring, by particular colours. Ultramarine blue or "neel" was not a colour. In common parlance, ultramarine blue or "neel" was understood as a substance which was used to whiten clothes. It was not understood as a colour. It was a whitening agent for laundry purposes, used by washermen or by house-holders. Ultramarine blue was not a colour as it was used to whiten clothes. Ultramarine blue was not a pigment. 4.. We have some difficulty with the reasoning of Rajasthan Chemical Corporation's decision [1987] 65 STC 356 (Raj). According to the....
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....ment of a learned single Judge of the Calcutta High Court in Nilsin Company v. Collector of Central Excise [1984] ECR 928. The issue before the Calcutta High Court was whether ultramarine blue was a pigment for the purposes of assessment under item 14(1)(5) of the Excise Tariff. The learned Judge said: "(13). The respondents in paragraph 17 of the affidavit-in-opposition have averred that in paints like emulsion paints or water paints, pigment finishes for leather, printing ink, textile printing, ultramarine blue is compounded in larger proportion. They have also set out in paragraph 18 of their affidavit-in-opposition the definition of the expression 'pigment' given in various dictionaries. In the book Modern Surface Coating by Paul Nylen and Edward Sunderland, at page 349, of the said book has described 'pigment' as the 'internationally accepted term for the powdered material intended to be dispersed in liquid or solid binders for the production of paints, printing inks, plastic materials, rubbers, vitrine enamels'. In the said book ultramarine blue has been classified as a synthetic and inorganic pigment. The respondents have also relied upon Webster's 3rd International Dicti....
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....The definition given in the said book excludes certain substances including whiting. Mr. Bhattacharyya is not correct in contending that ultramarine blue is whiting because according to the said dictionary, whiting is entirely a distinct product consisting of finely ground, naturally occurring calcium carbonate derived from chalk, limestone, etc., and used as filler, putty, etc. One of the properties of ultramarine blue is that it is a whitener, i.e., a white pigment or colorant used in the paper and textile industries (vide Condensed Chemical Dictionary, page 1096). Therefore, I conclude that the Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 10th Edn. relied upon by the petitioner shows that ultramarine blue is a pigment having various uses, one of which is whitening or brightening textiles and clothes. (15) For the foregoing reasons, I conclude that there is overwhelming evidence that ultramarine blue is a pigment. Ultramarine blue does not constitute a separate product as contended by the petitioner. People conversant with and dealing with the said product understand ultramarine blue as a pigment, i.e., as a colorant. It is used for imparting colour to various substance. Thus, not only from....