1975 (11) TMI 140

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..... t, 1959?" The facts giving rise to this reference are as follows: The assessee is an importer and reseller of dental equipment and instruments. It is also a manufacturer of dental chairs, which are sold by it. For the period from 1st January, 1960, to 31st December, 1960, the Sales Tax Officer assessed the sales of dental chairs sold by the assessee as falling under entry 56 of Schedule C to the said Act, rejecting the contention of the assessee that these sales were covered by entry 22 of Schedule E to the said Act. The appeal of the assessee to the Assistant Commissioner failed and the assessee filed a second appeal before the Sales Tax Tribunal. The Tribunal observed that for an article to come under entry 56 of Schedule C, as "furnitu .....

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..... stion as to what is the meaning given to a term used in an entry in common parlance is a question of fact to be determined on evidence and, in the absence of such evidence, the entries could be construed according to their dictionary meaning. In the present case, we find that the Tribunal has taken documentary evidence by way of five letters relied upon by the assessee and has accepted the correctness of the statements made therein. This documentary evidence clearly establishes, as held by the Tribunal, that a dental chair, in commercial parlance, is regarded as a physiotherapy equipment and not as furniture. In view of the evidence led before the Tribunal regarding the meaning of the term "dental chair" in commercial parlance, there can be .....

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..... High Court in Simpson and Co. Ltd. v. State of Madras[1969] 23 S.T.C. 379. , where it has been held that the phrase "furniture of all types" in entry 44 of Schedule 1 of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959, is wide enough to cover all kinds of furniture and is not confined to furniture used in homes and offices and therefore "garage stools" are within that entry. There can be no quarrel with this decision. It is nobody's case here that a dental chair should not be regarded as a furniture merely because it is used in the dentist's room. The question really is whether it can be regarded as furniture at all, and, in our view, it cannot be so regarded, for the reasons which we have already given above. In the result, 'the question referred .....

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