TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1998 (7) TMI 665
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....nd plastic bangles under the Karnataka Tax on Entry of Goods into Local Areas for Consumption, Use or Sale Therein Act, 1979 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"). Clarification issued by appellant No. 2, annexure "E", clarifying that entry tax was exigible on glass and plastic bangles was also challenged by them. 3. Section 3(1) provides that there shall be levy and collect tax on entry of any goods specified in the First Schedule into a local area for consumption, use or sale therein at such rates which may be prescribed by the State Government by issuance of a notification. Different dates and different rates could be specified in respect of different goods or different classes of goods for different local areas. Government issued Notification No. FD. 69 CET 92 (i) dated April 30, 1992. A list was appended to the notification containing entries 30 and 54 which read as under: "Entry 30: Glass sheets and all articles made of glass. 2 per cent Entry 54: Plastic sheets, granules and articles made from all kindsof and all forms of plastics including articles made of polypropylene, polyesterene and the like materials. 2 per cent." Reported as Brindavan Bang....
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...."and" occurring in entries 30 and 54 assumes importance in the circumstances of the case making intention of the Legislature clear that the Legislature intended to levy tax both on glass sheets as also finished products of glass, which finds a place in the latter half of the entry. The rule of construction "noscitur a sociis" applied by the learned single Judge to the entries in question was not systematical because the words used by the Legislature were clear and free from any ambiguity. As against this, the counsel appearing for the respondents supported the judgment of the learned single Judge and relied upon the judgment of the Kerala High Court in Deputy Commissioner of Sales Tax (Law), Board of Revenue (Taxes), Ernakulam v. K. Ummul Kulsu [1994] 92 STC 450, of the Orissa High Court in the case of State of Orissa v. Janata Medical Stores [1976] 37 STC 33, of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Mahalakshmi Traders v. Deputy Commercial Tax Officer (M & G), Visakhapatnam [1983] 53 STC 263 and in Shah Pratap Chand Kantilal & Co. v. State [1986] 63 STC 312 and of the Karnataka High Court in Kishorilal Radheysham v. Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Bangalore City Division [1982....
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....y "articles made of glass". Judgments relied upon by the counsel for the respondents do not take his case further and we would discuss each one of them separately. 10.. In State of Orissa v. Janata Medical Stores [1976] 37 STC 33, the question involved before the Orissa High Court whether thermometers, lactometers, syringes, eye-wash glasses and measuring glasses which were articles made of glass would be termed as "glassware" was rejected. The relevant entry in the Schedule read "glassware". While holding that thermometers, lactometers, eyewash glasses, syringes and measuring glasses did not come within the meaning of glassware, it was observed: "'Glassware' as understood from the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary is 'articles made of glass'. In popular sense glassware would ordinarily refer to articles made of glass. In general use, when glassware is referred to one's mind, thermometers, lactometers, syringes or eye-wash glasses or even measuring glasses do not occur. A general merchant dealing in glassware ordinarily does not deal in these articles. These are articles which are normally available in a medical shop such as that of the assessee before us. Thermometers and la....
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....t to tax as sale of glassware under entry 111 of the First Schedule to the Act. 14.. In Kishorilal Radheysham v. Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes [1982] 50 STC 19, this Court held that glass marbles could not be termed as glassware. Common parlance test was applied in this case as well. It was held that in the absence of definition of "glassware" in the Act, definition of common parlance was attracted. It was held that though marbles were made by glass but in common parlance they were understood and treated as sport and plaything and not glassware. The glass marbles were not sold generally by any dealer dealing in glassware. Glass marbles therefore could not be taxed in the turnover of the assessee under entry 109 as glassware. 15.. A reading of these judgments shows that entries there were "glassware". The question is whether the specialised items like thermometers, lactometers, wind screen, rear screen, syringes, eye-wash glasses, empty bottles, or phials could be termed as "glassware". In respective Schedules to the Act in those cases the entry was restricted to "glassware" whereas the present entry is "all articles made of glass" and "articles made from all kinds o....