In Brief
The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's decision that bitumen emulsion falls within Entry 22 of Schedule II of the VAT Act, 2008, which refers to 'bitumen'. The Court held that bitumen emulsion is merely a processed form of bitumen retaining the same chemical composition, commercial identity, and end use as solid bitumen. Applying the common parlance and composition tests, the Court concluded that 'bitumen' is a generic term encompassing all types of bitumen. Since the product clearly fell within the specific Entry, the Revenue could not resort to the residuary Entry. The appeal was dismissed.
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