MEHTA, J., delivered the following judgment on July 8, 1968.

The short question which has been referred to us is :-

"Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case the sale of corrugated sheets by the opponent-firm was covered by entry 80 of Schedule B or entry 15 of Schedule B to the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953, prior to its amendment by Bombay Act 16 of 1957 ?"

The short facts which have given rise to this reference are :-

The opponent-firm is a registered dealer dealing in iron and steel, gold and silver, vegetable ghee, corrugated iron sheets etc. It was assessed according to best judgment for the period from 1st April, 1956, to 31st March, 1957, by an order passed by the Sales Tax Officer, Godhra, on 30th June, 1962. The assessee appealed to the Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax which was dismissed and its revision was only partially allowed by the Deputy Commissioner of Sales Tax. The Deputy Commissioner held that entry 15 of Schedule B relating to iron and steel only included primary products of the rolling mills which are not subjected to any process after rolling and, therefore, corrugated sheets were covered by entry 80 of Schedule B to the Act. In revision the Tribunal has however held that the corrugated sheets sold by the opponent would be "iron and steel" within the meaning of entry 15 of Schedule B to the Act. The State has, therefore, required the Tribunal to make the aforesaid reference to this Court.

The relevant entry 15 at the relevant time was as under :- "Iron and steel". The said entry was subsequently amended to bring it in line with section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act which declared "iron and steel" as goods of special importance in inter-State trade or commerce. Under section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, the said entry is iron and steel, i.e.,

(a) pig iron and iron scrap.

(b) iron plates sold in the same form in which they are directly produced by the rolling mills.

(c) steel scrap, steel-ingots, still billets, steel bars and rods.

(d) (i) steel plates.

(ii) steel sheets. Sold in the same form

(iii) steel bars and till bars. in which they are directly

(iv) rolled steel sections. produced by the rolling

(v) tool alloy steel. mills.

The residuary entry 80 covers those items which did not fall under any specific item. Therefore, once a commodity in question would be covered under entry 15, there would be no question of residuary entry 80 being attracted. It is only if we hold that the commodity in question has ceased to be "iron and steel" or is not "iron and steel" that we can answer that it falls under the residuary entry 80 in this case.

The question before as relates to corrugated iron sheets. Corrugated only means wrinkled. It is still iron as it is only in wrinkled condition and the form which it has taken is the sheet form. Therefore, the corrugated iron sheets would be "iron", which has been given a treatment of corrugation and which is in the form of sheets. The question before us is whether it can be said to be iron and steel within the meaning of entry 15. Entry 15 uses two words in close association, i.e., iron and steel. Steel is made from iron by processing it. On a plain literal construction, this entry must cover iron and steel in all its forms. So long as the commodity continues to retain the character of iron and steel and it is only when it is manufactured into a different finished product or fabricated into a different article that it would cease to fall under this entry. The question of interpretation of similar entries is now well settled. In Tungabhadra Industries Limited v. Commercial Tax Officer, ([1960] 11 S.T.C. 827.) the Supreme Court had to interpret the expression "groundnut oil" within the meaning of rule 18(2) of the Madras General Sales Tax (Turnover and Assessment) Rules, 1939, in the context of hydrogenated groundnut oil. It was contended that the hydrogenated oil was not "groundnut oil".