STATE OF KERALA Vs. OCEAN WEALTH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These 8 Tax Revision Cases are filed by the Revenue. The respondents are assessees under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act. Most of them are dealers in prawns etc. They purchased baskets and other consumable stores like packing materials from unregistered dealers for stocking and transporting the prawns purchased, through lorries to their factories. The Assessing Officers included the turnover relating to those items in the taxable turnover by placing reliance on S.5A(1)(b) of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act. The Appellate Tribunal took the view that the turnover related to the above goods is not exigible to purchase tax under S.5A(1)(b) of the K.G.S.T. Act. The Revenue has come up in revisions from the orders passed by the Appellate Tribunal.

(2.) Since a common question of law centering round the interpretation to be placed on S.5A(1)(b) of the K.G.S.T. Act alone arises for consideration, these revisions were heard together. The facts in the individual cases were not highlighted or sought to be explained in detail as it is common ground that the interpretation placed on S.5A(1)(b) will apply in the same manner for all these 8 revisions.

(3.) We heard counsel for the Revenue, Mr. T. Karunakaran Nambiar and Mr. T. R. Ramachandran Nair and M/s. Vijayan Menon and V. Rama Shenoi, Advocates, who appeared for the respondents.