Judgement

SHELAT, J. : The appellant has been carrying on business and is a dealer in firewood and charcoal. For the period from March 29, 1962 to April 29, 1962, he was assessed to sales tax under S.18(6) of the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1958 as he did not have any registration certificate in respect of this period. The Additional Sales Tax Officer, Ujjain, and the Additional Appellate Assistant Commissioner, Indore, both held that charcoal in which the appellant was dealing was not covered by Entry I of Part III of Sch. II to the Act, but that it fell under the residuary Entry I of Part VI of that Schedule; and consequently was liable to be assessed at the rate of 4 per cent of the price of charcoal. In a further appeal before the Board of Revenue, the Board, relying on the dictionary meaning of the word coal as given in Blackies Concise Dictionary, held that charcoal would be included in the term coal , and, therefore, Entry I in Part III of Sch. II would apply and the tax chargeable would be at 2 per cent only. At the instance of the Commissioner of Sales Tax, the Board referred the following question to the High Court:-

"Whether charcoal is covered under Entry I o