MAHAVEER METAL INDUSTRIES Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE grievance of the petitioners in these writ petitions being the same these petitions are disposed of by this common order.

(2.) THE petitioners are the steel rolling mills who purchased raw materials which fall under item 4 of the Second Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 and the manufactured end-products which also fall under the same entry. It is not in dispute that the State can tax raw materials as well as the end-products under that entry. THE Supreme Court in the case of State of Tamil Nadu v. Pyare Lal Malhotra held that the raw materials and the end-products are commercially different commodities and accordingly both are taxable. That judgment of the Supreme Court reversed the decision of this Court taking a contrary view reported in the case of Pyarelal Malhotra v. Joint Commercial Tax Officer.

(3.) THE grievance of the petitioners is only in regard to the stocks of raw materials held by them as on the date of the notification dated March 17, 1986 from out of which, they manufactured the end-products. THE petitioners contend that by the reason of the earlier notification, the exemption of sales tax on the end-products should be made available to the petitioners even after March 17, 1986, in so far as such end-products were manufactured by them out of the raw materials purchased prior to March 17, 1986. THE notification dated March 17, 1986, does not support the case of the petitioners in any way. THEre is no provision therein exempting the end-products from tax even after that date if such products had been manufactured out of the raw materials purchased prior to the date of the notification.