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TMI Blog1977 (3) TMI 43X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l Sales Tax Act, 1956 at Nagpur and Bombay. In respect of the period from 1-4-1960 to 31-3-1961 the Sales Tax Officer assessing the applicant allowed the sales of the rags and chindies made by the applicants as not taxable taking the view that the same were covered by Entry 15 of Schedule A to the said Act. The applicants filed an appeal against the assessment order passed by the Sales Tax Officers in connection with some other items. Thereafter, the Deputy Commissioner of Sales Tax issued a notice under S. 57 of the said Act and, after hearing the applicants, on 13th August, 1967 passed an order disallowing the exemption granted by the Sales Tax Officer in respect of the sales of rags and chindies and assessed the rags and chindies and ass ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , but do not include any such fabrics thus : (a) if it contains 40 per cent or more by weight of wool ; (b) if it contains 60 per cent or more by weight of rayon or artificial silk; or (c) if manufactured on a handloom." On 5th January 1957 the Central Government issued Notification No. S.R.O. 21 in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-rule (1) of R. 8 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, inter alia, exempting from the whole of the duty leviable thereon under the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 what has been referred to as "the Cotton Fabrics described below". Item No. 10 of these exempted items read thus : "Damaged or sub-standard cotton fabrics which are classified as : (a) 'Chindies'- that is to say, cut pieces of cotton ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ution Item No. 12 of the First Schedule became Item No 19 of the said Schedule; and it is common ground that in view of the provisions of S. 8 of the General Clauses Act reference to the said Item No 12 of the First Schedule Entry 15 of Schedule A to the said Act will have to be read from 1st October, 1960 as reference to Item No. 19 of the First Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944. This, however, does not make any difference because item No. 19 is in the same terms as the aforesaid Item No. 12. 7. It is the contention of Mr. Shah, the learned Advocate for the applicants, that the rags and chindies sold by the applicants were admittedly pieces of cotton cloth, that is, cloth manufactured either wholly or partly from cotton ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of furniture or any similar use, these pieces of cloth cannot be regarded as cloth or cotton fabric at all. We find it difficult to accept the a forementioned contentions of Mr. Phadkar. The term "cotton fabrics" has been defined in Item 12 and later in Item No. 19 of the First Scheduled to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944, and this definition includes within its ambit all varieties of fabrics manufactured out of the material described in the said Item. The definition clarifies that dhoties, sarees, chadars, bedsheets, bedspreads, counter-panes and table-cloths are included in the ambit of the term "cotton fabrics. Now, the relevant dictionary meaning of the word "fabric" is "manufactured cloth" (see Chambers's Twentieth Century Dict ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cloth or cotton fabric. It is true that the rags and chindies sold by the applicants must have been pieces of cloth of irregular shapes and sizes. We fail to see, however, how for this reason they would cease to be manufactured cloth. We also fail to see how these rags and chindies cannot be regarded as manufactured cloth, merely because the purchasers from the applicants were putting them to use as raw material for making paper or paper products. If the argument of Mr. Phadkar, in this connection, were to be accepted, it would result in the description of a commodity being governed by the use to which it may be intended to be put up a purchaser, and this obviously cannot be. For example, it cannot be that, for the purpose of the said Act ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... wever, in our view, is of no relevance at all, because even if the rags and chindies were not of the said sizes all that it would mean is that they would not be exempt under the said Notification from the levy of excise duty. This would, in no way, show that the same ceased to be cotton fabrics. We may, in this connection, refer to a decision of the Madras High Court in Kishanchand Challaram v. Joint Commercial Tax Officer [(1968) 21 STC 367] where it has been held that, ordinarily, Courts when called upon to interpret the meaning of the words used in the Schedules to the Sales Tax Acts, mainly rely upon their popular or ordinary meaning. The meaning which the trade, Government officials and statutes attribute to those words must taken to b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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