# UNION OF INDIA AND ORS v. GUJARAT WOOLLEN FELT MILLS

- **Citation:** [1977] 3 S.C.R. 472
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1977-04-07
- **Case number:** CIVIL APPELLATE·- JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 1037 of 1971
- **Bench:** M. H. Beg, A. C. Gupta, P. S. Kailasam
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/union-of-india-and-ors-v-gujarat-woollen-felt-mills-7172
- **Pages:** 3

## Headnote

.
Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944-Schedule I Entry 21-Non-woven felts
1nan1.:'faptured out of ·v.·oollen fibres by machine pressing, whether "woollen
(cbncs' for the purpose of levy of excise duty-Rule of interpretat!on of items
111 a statute.
1
An excise duty o~ Rs. 550~~.87 was. levied and collected from tl?-e responuent-firm by the Excise authont1es ·treating the
non-woven felts manufactured
by ~hem as "'••oollen fabrics" covered by entry 21 in Schedule I to the Central
Excises and Salt Act, 1944. The Gujarat High. Court allowed the writ petition
filed by the respondent and held that the respondent's products were not "woollen
fabrics" and directed the refund of th~ entire sum collected as excise duty.
Dismissing the appeal by certificate to this Court,
JIELD : ( 1) The well-known ·rule in interpreting items in statutes is
that
resort should be had not to the scientific or the technical meaning of such terms
but to their popular meaning or the meaning attached to them by those dealing
in them, that is to say, their commercial sense. [474 A-B]
· Commissioner of Sales Tax, .Madhya Pradesh, Indore v. M/s. lalwant Singh
. Charan Singh, AIR 1967 SC -1454, applied.
.
(2) Fabric means woven mater'ial. Entries 19 to 22 in the Schedule
de31
v;ith fabrics. Entry 21 describes woollen fabrics as meaning all varieties of
fabrics manufactured out of \Vool, barring the exceptions mentioned, including
blankets, lohis, rugs, shawls and embroidery in the piece in strips or in motifs.
The word ••fabric" in entry 21 has been used to mean woven material in \Vhich
s1~nse it is popularly understood._ The term "woollen fabrics" in that sense was
not wide. enough to cover non-woven material which is \VOOl-based.
Blankets.
rugs and sha··.vls etc. have been spccifica11y included in the entry out of abundant
caution to indicate that '\vooTJen fabrics" in entry 21 means not only woo11en
garments but also woollen m~ter'.al used as covering or for similar other purposes. [473 H, 474 F-GJ
(3) It is plain from entry 21 in·Schedule I to the -Central EXcises and Salt
Act, 1944 that the respondent's products did no_t fall within it as they are non-
\\'Oven felts from wooUen fibres. [474 C]
'
CIVIL APPELLATE·- JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No.
1037 of
1971.
(From thei Judgment and Order dated the 17th June, 1971 of the
Gujarat High Court in Special Civil Application No. 112/67).
V. P. Raman, Addi. Sol.
Genl.
and Girish Chandra, for the
appellants.
G. N. Dikshit and R. N. Dikshit, for the respondent.
. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
GUPTA, J.-The respondent is a partnership firm manufacturing
II
non-woven felts from woollen fibres which -are utilised for the purpose of filtration in heavy industries. Between August 25, 1965 and
January 5. 1967 the Excise authorities compelled the re'spondent to
pay Rs. 55,055/87 p. as excise duty o_n its products. The respondent
y
t
. .""
)
.I
UNION V. GUJARAT WOOLLEN FELT MILLS (GUPTA, J.) 473
filed a writ petition in the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad for
A
quashing the order levying excise duty on the felts manufactured by
the respondent treating them as 'woollen fabrics' covered by entry
21 in Schedule I to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (hereinafter referred to as the Act).
The High Court allowed the writ
petition holding . that the respondent's products were not 'woollen
fabrics' and directed refund of the sum of Rs. 55,055/87 p. collected
as excise duty from the firm.
The Union of India has preferred this
B
appeal on certificate of fitness granted by the High Court questioning
the correctness of the decision.
The only question in the appeal is whether the felts manufactured
by the respondent are "woollen fabrics" within the meaning of entry
2 I in the first schedule to the Act.
The writ petition describes the
process of manufacture and states that the thickness of the felts
produced varies from 1 mm. to 50 mms. according to the specification
of the customers and that these are really machine pre

## Text

A
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472
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.
v.
GUJARAT WOOLLEN FELT MILLS
April 7, 1977
[M. H. BEG, C.J., A. C. GUPTA AND P. S. KAILASAM, JJ.]
.
Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944-Schedule I Entry 21-Non-woven felts
1nan1.:'faptured out of ·v.·oollen fibres by machine pressing, whether "woollen
(cbncs' for the purpose of levy of excise duty-Rule of interpretat!on of items
111 a statute.
1
An excise duty o~ Rs. 550~~.87 was. levied and collected from tl?-e responuent-firm by the Excise authont1es ·treating the
non-woven felts manufactured
by ~hem as "'••oollen fabrics" covered by entry 21 in Schedule I to the Central
Excises and Salt Act, 1944. The Gujarat High. Court allowed the writ petition
filed by the respondent and held that the respondent's products were not "woollen
fabrics" and directed the refund of th~ entire sum collected as excise duty.
Dismissing the appeal by certificate to this Court,
JIELD : ( 1) The well-known ·rule in interpreting items in statutes is
that
resort should be had not to the scientific or the technical meaning of such terms
but to their popular meaning or the meaning attached to them by those dealing
in them, that is to say, their commercial sense. [474 A-B]
· Commissioner of Sales Tax, .Madhya Pradesh, Indore v. M/s. lalwant Singh
. Charan Singh, AIR 1967 SC -1454, applied.
.
(2) Fabric means woven mater'ial. Entries 19 to 22 in the Schedule
de31
v;ith fabrics. Entry 21 describes woollen fabrics as meaning all varieties of
fabrics manufactured out of \Vool, barring the exceptions mentioned, including
blankets, lohis, rugs, shawls and embroidery in the piece in strips or in motifs.
The word ••fabric" in entry 21 has been used to mean woven material in \Vhich
s1~nse it is popularly understood._ The term "woollen fabrics" in that sense was
not wide. enough to cover non-woven material which is \VOOl-based.
Blankets.
rugs and sha··.vls etc. have been spccifica11y included in the entry out of abundant
caution to indicate that '\vooTJen fabrics" in entry 21 means not only woo11en
garments but also woollen m~ter'.al used as covering or for similar other purposes. [473 H, 474 F-GJ
(3) It is plain from entry 21 in·Schedule I to the -Central EXcises and Salt
Act, 1944 that the respondent's products did no_t fall within it as they are non-
\\'Oven felts from wooUen fibres. [474 C]
'
CIVIL APPELLATE·- JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No.
1037 of
1971.
(From thei Judgment and Order dated the 17th June, 1971 of the
Gujarat High Court in Special Civil Application No. 112/67).
V. P. Raman, Addi. Sol.
Genl.
and Girish Chandra, for the
appellants.
G. N. Dikshit and R. N. Dikshit, for the respondent.
. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
GUPTA, J.-The respondent is a partnership firm manufacturing
II
non-woven felts from woollen fibres which -are utilised for the purpose of filtration in heavy industries. Between August 25, 1965 and
January 5. 1967 the Excise authorities compelled the re'spondent to
pay Rs. 55,055/87 p. as excise duty o_n its products. The respondent
y
t
. .""
)
.I
UNION V. GUJARAT WOOLLEN FELT MILLS (GUPTA, J.) 473
filed a writ petition in the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad for
A
quashing the order levying excise duty on the felts manufactured by
the respondent treating them as 'woollen fabrics' covered by entry
21 in Schedule I to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (hereinafter referred to as the Act).
The High Court allowed the writ
petition holding . that the respondent's products were not 'woollen
fabrics' and directed refund of the sum of Rs. 55,055/87 p. collected
as excise duty from the firm.
The Union of India has preferred this
B
appeal on certificate of fitness granted by the High Court questioning
the correctness of the decision.
The only question in the appeal is whether the felts manufactured
by the respondent are "woollen fabrics" within the meaning of entry
2 I in the first schedule to the Act.
The writ petition describes the
process of manufacture and states that the thickness of the felts
produced varies from 1 mm. to 50 mms. according to the specification
of the customers and that these are really machine pressed raw woolwaste. It is stated further that the felts manufactured _by the process
described are neither sheets nor fabrics, they arc not material from
which garments could be prepared nor they could be used as covering
c
or for similar other purposes. Entry 21 in the first schedule to the
Act reads :
"21. WOOLLEN FABRICS-
"Woollen fabrics" means all varieties of fabrics manufactured wholly of wool or which contain 40 per cent, or
more by weight of wool and includes blankets, !obis, rugs,
shawls and embroidery in the piece, in strips or in motifs :
Provided that in the case of embroidery in the piece, in
strip9 or in motifs, the percentage referred to above shall be
in relation to the base fabrics which are embroidered-
(!) Woollen fabrics, other than
Ten percent.
embroidery in the piece, in
ad valorem.
strips or in motifs.
----
(2) Embroidery in the piece in
The duty for
strips or in motifs, in or in
the time being
relation to the manufacture
leviable on the
of which any process is ordbase fabrics,
inarily carried on with the
if not already
aid of power.
paid, plus
twenty percent.
ad valorem.
Exp/ana(ion.-"Base fabrics"
means
fabrics falling
under sub-item ( 1) of this Item which are subjected to the
process of embroidery."
Are the products of the respondent's factory woollen fabrics ?
Fabric means woven material.
The articles manufactured by the
respondent, as already stated, are
non-woven felfs from
woollen
fibres.
It is contended on behalf of the appellant, Union of India.
D
E
F
G
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. .t74
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1977] 3 s.c.R .
that· in a technical sense the felts manufactured by the respondent
would still be woollen fabrics.
The well-known rule in interpreting·
items in statutes like the one we are concerned with is that "resort
should be had not to the scientific or the technical meaning of 'such
terms but to their popular meaning or the meaning attached to them
by those dealing in them, that is to say, to their commercial sense".
(Commissioner of Sales Tax,
Madhya
Pradesh, Indore v.
M/s.
Jaswant Singh Charan Singh)(').
The High Court has held that a
trader ·dealing in woollen fabrics would not regard the respondent's
products as woollen fabrics, but it does not appear that there is any
evidence on the record of the case to support the finding.
However,
an inquiry regarding the meaning of the term woollen fabrics as
commercially understood would be relevant only when there is doubt
asto the sense in which the term has been used in entry 21; it seems
to us plain from the entry read as a whole that the respondent's products did not fall within it. Entries 19 to 22 in the schedule all deal with fabrics.
Entry 19 d·wls with cotton fabrics which
is stated to cover, barring the exceptions specified, all varieties of
fabrics manufactured either wholly or partly from cotton and includes,
dhoties, sarees, chadders, bed-sheets,
bed-spreads etc.
Entry 20
relates to slik fabrics which is said to mean all varieties of fabrics
manufactured either wholly or partly from silk with certain exceptiom
·and includes embroidery in (he piece, in strips or in motifs. Entry 22
relates to rayon ·or artificial silk fabrics which also is said to mean
all varieties of fabrics manufactured either wholly or partly from rayon
or artificial silk with some exceptions and includes embroidery in the
piece, in strips or in motifs etc. In this group, entry 21 describes
woollen. fabrics as meaning all
varieties of fabrics
manufactured
out of wool, barring the exceptions mentioned, including blankets,
lohi's, rurs, shawls and l'mbroidery in the piece, in strips or in
motifs. If the term 'woollen fabrics' in this entry had been used in
its technical or scientific
sense and, if in that
sense, it. was \Vidc
enoun-h tO cover ro:n \Voven material \vhich js \Vool-based, then it is
difficult to explain why the entry should specifically mention blankets,
rugs and shawls as hein2 included within it. No one could possibly be in
any doubt in respect of these few items if the term was so pervasive,
and there was no reason for sinoling out these specific objects.
On
the contrary, the
mention of these items
sug~ests that the word
'fabrics' in entry 21 has been used to mean woven material in which
· sense it is popularlv understood, and blankets, rugs and shawls etc.
have been specifically included in the entry out of abundant caution
to. indicate that 'woollen fabrics' in entry 21 means not only woollen
garments but also woollen material used as covering or for similar
other purpose·s. We therefore find no reason to take a view different
from that taken by the Hirrh Court.
.
The appeal is. dismissed with costs.
. .. . --1
S.R .
Appeal dismissed.
. (I) A.LR. 1967 S.C. 1454.
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