TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2011 (10) TMI 570
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....ed in the business of manufacture and sale of toffees, chewing gums, bubblegum, etc. In the quarterly returns filed under the M.P. Commercial Tax Act, 1994 (for short, "the Act"), the petitioner had treated chewing gums and bubblegums as covered by entry 5 of Part VII of the Second Schedule taxable at eight per cent. The assessing officer completed the assessment by order dated October 29, 2002, treating these items covered by entry 21 of Part IV of the Second Schedule of the Act for the period May 11, 1998 to December 31, 1999, under entry 23, Part III of the Second Schedule for the period January 1, 2000 to March 14, 2000 and under entry 14 of Part III of the Second Schedule for the period March 15, 2000 to March 31, 2000 and levying tax ....
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....I or any other part of this Schedule 8%" Entry No. 39, Part IV, Schedule II All other goods not included in Schedule I or any other part of this Schedule 8% Entries covering lozenges during relevant period Entry No. 21, Part IV, Schedule II (April 1, 1999 to December 31, 1999) (I) Cakes and pastries,- (i) Biscuites, chocolates, toffees, lozenges and peppermint drops whether sold loose or in sealed containers (ii) Bakery goods other than bread and the goods mentioned in (i) and (ii) above. . . 12% Entry No. 23, Part III, Schedule II (January 1, 2000 to March 14, 2000) (i) Cakes and pastries (ii) Biscuites, chocolates, toffees, lozenges and peppermint/drops whether sold loose or in sealed containers (iii) B....
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....i & Co. reported in [1980] 45 STC 58 (SC); [1980] 1 SCC 142, Ganesh Trading Co. Karnal v. State of Haryana reported in [1973] 32 STC 623 (SC); [1974] 3 SCC 620, Filterco v. Commissioner of Sales Tax, Madhya Pradesh reported in [1986] 61 STC 318 (SC); [1986] 2 SCC 103 and Pappu Sweets and Biscuits v. Commissioner of Trade Tax, U.P., Lucknow reported in [1998] 111 STC425 (SC); [1998] 7 SCC 228). Keeping in view the aforesaid, it is to be seen, if in the common parlance chewing gum and bubblegum are treated as "lozenges". Chewing gum and bubblegum not only have different ingredients, taste features and characteristics, but they are also items different from lozenges in common parlance inasmuch as a customer asking for chewing gums or bubble....
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....or controlling the breath. In common parlance also nobody treats it as an item of confectionery. I, therefore, hold that chewing gum is an unclassified item'." The same issue had come up before the Full Bench of the M.P. Commercial Tax Appellate Board in the case of this very petitioner for another assessment period where the Full Bench of the Board, after examining the matter in detail, by order dated January 31, 2004 found that the lozenges and chewing gums/bubblegums are identified differently in common parlance. The Full Bench of the Board has held as under: "14. One can say that toffee is a kind of firm or hard sweet softnery, which when sucked or chewed dissolves in the mouth. Lozenges a rhombus or diamond shaped figure, a s....
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.... they are to be construed in a cognate manner. To put it differently, each word takes colour from each other. One application of the above general principle is the doctrine of 'ejusdem generis' which say that wherever the general words are followed by particular or specific words of same nature, the general words would take its meaning from the later specific word, however this is not the case in present appeal. Here the goods or items 'bubblegums' and 'chewing gums' neither find place at all in the entry nor the entry is head by 'all kinds of confectionery'. Therefore the above principle does not apply here. 18. In view of the above factual analysis, the rulings and principles propounded by the honourable....