RALLIS INDIA LIMITED Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The question which falls for determination in this appeal by certificate granted by the High Court of Andhra Pradesh against its judgment dated the 19th September, 1977 is whether the appellant which is a limited company is not liable to make good to the State sales tax authorities the amount of sales tax leviable under Section 6 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as the A. P. Act) in respect of the turnover covering the purchase by the petitioner of cotton during the period 1-4-1969 to 8-6-1969, which turnover had been exempted from sales tax by the Commercial Tax Officer, No. II, Gaunter (C.T.O. for short) in his assessment order dated the 30th of April, 1971.

(2.) Two assessment orders were passed by the C.T.O. on the date last mentioned. One of them covered the turnover of the appellant liable to tax under the Central Sales Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as the Central Act). That turn-over included a sum of Rs. 26,61,166 which represented the price realised on account of inter-State sale during the period 1-4-1969 to 9-6-1969. In respect of this amount the order made by the C.T.O. was :

(3.) In the year 1972, clause (b) of Section 15 of the Central Act was amended retrospectively so as to be effective from the 1st of October, 1958. Two years later, Section 6 of the A. P. Act was also amended and made effective from the same date. On the 21st of August, 1974, the Deputy Commissioner (Commercial Taxes) (hereinafter called the D.C.C.T.) issued a notice to the appellant calling upon it to show cause why the 'exemption' granted to it by the C.T.O. should not be cancelled. After receiving the appellant's reply, the D.C.C.T. revised the assessment order dated 30th of April, 1971, passed under the A. P. Act and held that in view of the provisions of Section 6 thereof as amended in 1974 the appellant was not entitled to any 'exemption' in respect of the purchase price (amounting to Rs. 23,000.57) of cotton sold by it in the course of inter-State trade for Rs. 26,61,166 during the period 1-4-1969 to 8-6-1969. The order of the D.C.C.T. was challenged by the appellant in an appeal which was dismissed by the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal, Andhra Pradesh (hereinafter called the Tribunal on the 30th of August, 1976, mainly on the ground that Sec. 6 of the A. P. Act did not talk of any 'exemption' either before or after its amendment in 1974. The appellant sought a revision of the Tribunal's order by the High Court under Section 22 (1) of the A. P. Act but remained unsuccessful as the High Court was of the opinion (for which it relied upon Vadivelu Chetty v. Commercial Tax Officer, Tirupathi, (1972) 30 STC 176 (Andh Pra) and Daita Suryanarayana and Company v. State of Andhra Pradesh (1977) 39 STC 500 that the exemption granted by the C.T.O. was 'patently wrong'. The High Court however granted a certificate declaring the case to be a fit one for appeal to the Supreme Court under Article 133 (1) (c) of the Constitution of India read with Section 109 of the Code of Civil Procedure.