PONDICHERRY FERTILISER COMPANY Vs. UNION TERRITORY OF PONDICHERRY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a revision petition to revise the order of the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal, Pondicherry. It relates to the assessment year 1974-75. The assessee is a dealer in fertilisers. According to the assessee, the commodity which he was dealing with was a mixture of chemical fertilisers known as sagar manure or sagar complex, which would fall under item 22 of the First Schedule to the Pondicherry General Sales Tax Act, taxable at the rate of 1 per cent single point. The assessing authority as well as the as the appellate authority have held that it should not be considered to be a chemical fertiliser within the meaning of the said expression as defined under item 22 of the First Schedule, and therefore, taxed it at 2 1/2 per cent. The Tribunal, in disposing of the appeal on 5th March, 1977, held that since sagar manure does not fall under any of the commodities listed under item 22 of the First Schedule to the Pondicherry General Sales Tax Act, it was not liable to taxation at the concessional rate. The assessee having failed, brought the matter on revision to this Court. By a subsequent notification dated 7th November, 1977, item 22 has been expanded, so as to contain 25 sub-items and the amendment is deemed to have come into force on the 1st April, 1996. After serialising the chemical fertilisers under item (1) to (23), the 24th item is :

(2.) "Any mixture of two or more of the articles mentioned in items (1) to (23) above with or without the addition of other articles."

(3.) THE assessee will be eligible for the benefit of the concessional rate of tax with reference to the turnover of Rs. 4, 69, 520, i.e., the rate of tax to be adopted is 1 per cent instead of 2 1/2 per cent. The revision is allowed and the assessee will be entitled to his costs. Counsel's fee Rs. 250.