A dupatta is classifiable under the Fourth Schedule’s fabric entries, not the fibre entry.

The petitioner challenged assessments for 2009–10 to 2011–12 concerning the classification of dupattas. The Assessing Authority rejected the petitioner’s claim that the goods were exempt under Part A of the Fourth Schedule to the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 (TNVAT Act), and assessed them at 4%, without identifying the applicable taxable entry.

The Appellate Assistant Commissioner confirmed the assessments, classifying the goods under Entry 49, Part B, First Schedule, concerning fibres; the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal affirmed that classification. The petitioner filed tax case revisions before the High Court.

1. Whether the Tribunal was justified in confirming the demand on the ground that a dupatta is integrally connected with, and forms part of, readymade garments and cannot be sold separately.

2. Whether a dupatta is classifiable under Entry 49, Part B, First Schedule, rather than under Part A of the Fourth Schedule to the TNVAT Act.

The Court considered Entries 3–10 of Part A of the Fourth Schedule to the TNVAT Act, which cover specified woven fabrics and textile fabrics, and Entry 49 of Part B of the First Schedule, which covers fibres and their waste.

It applied the principle in Bharat Forge & Press Industries (P) Ltd. v. Collector of Central Excise, Baroda, 84 STC 414, that an article falls under the entry that most appropriately describes it and may be classified under a residuary entry only when no other entry covers it.

The Court found that a dupatta is woven fabric, not a fibre, and therefore cannot be classified under Entry 49, which concerns fibres and their waste.

Although the authorities’ reasoning treated the dupatta as part of a readymade garment, they had consistently relied on the fibres entry; the Department had not based the assessment on the separate entry for readymade garments. The Court also rejected the State’s distinction between a dupatta’s fixed length and fabric sold by the yard, holding that Entries 3–10 appropriately cover dupattas made from varying materials. Applying the classification principle in Bharat Forge, the Court concluded that those fabric entries, rather than the fibres entry, governed the goods.

The High Court allowed the tax case revisions, and made no order as to costs.