Hessian lined paper manufactured and sold by the assessee falls within the description of paper as found described in entry 117 of the First Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 and is liable to levy of tax at 8%.

RAJU, J.

The State has filed the tax case challenging the order of the Tribunal in so far as the Tribunal held that "hessian lined paper" manufactured and sold by respondent-assessee does not come within the description of the entry 117 of the First Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959.

2. The respondents-assessees are dealers in waterproof paper, wax paper, kraft paper and other general shop books, at Virudhunagar. For the assessment year 1978-79, as against the total and taxable turnover returned by them in their returns, the assessing officer, after verification of their accounts and after giving due and sufficient opportunity, determined the total and taxable turnover at Rs. 79, 85, 071 and Rs. 68, 24, 577, respectively. The turnover of Rs. 1, 08, 549 related to the first sales of hessian rolls with further addition for certain defects, the same was subjected to levy at 8 per cent treating the sales as representing the turnover relating to paper within the meaning of entry 117 of the First Schedule to the Act.

3. The respondents-assessees filed an appeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner challenging several items of turnover including the one relating to the first sales of hessian rolls. The said appellate authority rejected the claim of the assessees and held that item 117 of the First Schedule would take within its fold all kinds of paper and paper boards and consequently the hessian paper rolls are liable to levy at 8 per cent. Not satisfied the respondent-assessees pursued the matter before the Tribunal.

4. Before the Tribunal, the assessees contended that they have purchased paper, jute and tax and manufactured hessian paper rolls and sold them and the constituents of the commodity are (a) paper 18.18 per cent by weight, (b) bitumen 18.18 per cent by weight and (c) hessian 63.64 per cent by weight and that the major part of the commodity by weight and by volume being only hessian and the paper portion being only 18.18 per cent, the goods sold by them as hessian paper rolls would not come within the meaning of entry 117 to the First Schedule to the Act. The assessee also appears to have contended that merely because they were used for packing purposes, they cannot be classified under entry 117. The Tribunal, while adverting to the entry 117, felt that the commodity in question does not come under any one of the articles found illustrated in entry 117 and that therefore cannot be subjected to single point levy at 8 per cent under the said entry and therefore, the turnover to the tune of Rs. 1, 06, 421 is liable to tax at the general multi-point rate. Hence the revision by the Revenue before this Court.

5. Mrs. Chitra Venkataraman, learned Additional Government Pleader (Taxes) contended that the Tribunal failed to properly consider the scope and purport of the entry 117 of the First Schedule to the Act and that the hessian paper rolls, manufactured and sold by the assessees, which is being used for packing or wrapping matches, would squarely fall within the scope of the entry 117 in question. Reliance was placed on the decision reported in Viny Pap Sales Depot v. State of Tamil Nadu to contend that the paper of the kind manufactured and sold by the assessee fell squarely within entry 117(iii) of the First Schedule to the Act.

6. Per contra, Mr. Inbarajan, learned counsel for the assessee, contended that merely because the hessian rolls are being used by manufacturers of matches to wrap the matches or to pack them, the same cannot make their product wrapping paper, since, according to the learned counsel, their product cannot at all be said to be basically paper.

7. The learned counsel for the assessee further contended that the Revenue is at wrong in attempting to invoke the common parlance theory to adjudge the nature of the goods in the present case and that the constituents of the commodity cannot be completely lost sight of in determining the nature and character of the goods that fal