TMI Blog1974 (10) TMI 87X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sports goods, and since there was no such specific category, they were taxable as an unclassified item. The Sales Tax Officer did not accept this plea. He held that the turnover of shoes came within the entry "footwear" in the notification dated 1st October, 1965. Since the assessee did not furnish the declaration in C form, this turnover was taxable at 10 per cent. This view was upheld in appeal. The assessee went up in revision. The Judge (Revisions) held that sports shoes were not used as ordinary shoes. They were specially made and designed for a particular purpose, that is, for sports. On this finding the revision was allowed. At the instance of the Commissioner, the revising authority has submitted this statement of the case for t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... reme Court reaffirmed this principle and held that in common parlance tooth-powder is considered as a toilet, and that accords with the dictionary meaning as well. In Commissioner, Sales Tax, M.P. v. Jaswant Singh Charan Singh[1967] 19 S.T.C. 469 (S.C.)., the Supreme Court held: "A sales tax statute, being one levying a tax on goods, must, in the absence of a technical term or a term of science or art, be presumed to have used an ordinary term as coal according to the meaning ascribed to it in common parlance. Viewed from that angle both a merchant dealing in coal and a consumer wanting to purchase it would regard coal not in its geological sense but in the sense as ordinarily understood and would include 'charcoal' in the term 'coal'. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... base coated with a chemical surface finish to give a vast variety of textures and designs, many of them simulating leather grains to a remarkable degree. These find wide use in less expensive shoes, especially in women's and girls' footwear. Nylon mesh and nylon velvet as well as synthetic patent and suede is also produced for shoes. Under the sub-heading "Styling and Design" it has been stated: "Many kinds of footwear-men's work shoes, oxfords, and riding boots, for example-remain essentially unchanged from year to year, but in other types fashion plays a considerable role..............In the U.S. it is estimated that more than 1,00,000 new sample styles are prepared annually by the manufacturers.........Most manufacturers design their ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r is an industry, catering to the manufacture of all varieties of shoes and protective footwear. This industry produces shoes, called athletic shoes or sports shoes. There are hundreds of varieties of shoes, catering to diverse tastes, different occasions and special events. Nonetheless, all these varieties or kinds of shoes are protective footwear. In common parlance footwear is known as wearing apparel for the feet and that accords with the dictionary meaning as well. The fact that the shoes in question are used by sportsmen at the sports field does not make them anything other than shoes. They are a variety of footwear. Footwear is a genus, having a large number of species depending upon the specific use to which a particular variety o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... otwear, which is a term of very wide sweep. It includes all kinds of shoes, including those which may be used on particular occasions or events. Simply because one variety of shoe is generally sold by a dealer in sports goods it will not go outside the purview of the entry "footwear". Even if it be assumed that since this variety of shoes is used by sportsmen and so are generally kept and sold by dealers in sports goods, yet since there is no specific category called sports goods in any notification, sports shoes would remain footwear and would be taxed as such. In the result our answer to the question referred to us is in the affirmative, in favour of the department and against the assessee. The Commissioner will be entitled to costs whi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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