VARKEY THOMAS Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE five petitions raise a common question relating to the levy of the surcharge under section 3(1) of the Kerala Surcharge on Taxes Act, 1957. That sub-section (omitting the proviso thereto) reads as follows : "The tax payable under the Travancore-Cochin General Sales Tax Act, 1125, or the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1939, shall, in the case of a dealer whose turnover exceeds thirty thousand rupees in a year, be increased by a surcharge at the rate of two and a half per centum of the tax payable for that year and the provisions of the Travancore-Cochin General Sales Tax Act, 1125, or the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1939, shall, as the case may be, apply to the levy and collection of the said surcharge."

(2.) THE Act came into force on 1st September, 1957. THE question for consideration is whether the surcharge can be levied on the sales tax in respect of transactions which occurred in 1956-57 (1st April, 1956, to 31st March, 1957), i.e., prior to the date on which the Act came into force.

(3.) WE propose to assume, without deciding, that the expression "tax payable" relates to a tax assessed and demanded as contended by the State. Even then it does not follow that the levy of surcharge in these cases is valid.