VELAYUDHAN Vs. SALES TAX OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is a dealer registered under the Travancore Cochin General Sales Tax Act, XI of 1125 and as such he collected sales tax from his purchasers. The amount of sales tax collected was made the subject matter of a further levy of sales tax by the 1st respondent who is the Agricultural Income Tax and Rural Sales Tax Officer, Perumbavoor, rejecting the objection made by the petitioner. His appeal to the 2nd respondent who is the Assistant Commissioner of Agricultural Income Tax and Sales Tax, was dismissed and the further resort by way of revision made to the Deputy Commissioner the 3rd respondent also yielded no better result. Hence this petition impugning the levy of sales tax upon sales tax as ultra vires the powers of the officer under the Act. The 4th respondent is the State. The levy is sought to be sustained on the ground the amount covered by the sales tax is comprised in the definition of "turnover" contained in S.2 (k) of the Act which reads thus:-

(2.) The result is that the order complained of is ultra vires the powers of the authorities and it is hereby vacated and it is declared that the sales tax collected by the petitioner is immune from levy of sales tax. The respondents will pay the costs of the petitioner with counsel's fee which I fix at Rs. 50/- in view of the fact that the amount involved is only about Rs. 950/-.