COMMISSIONER OF SALES TAX Vs. VOLTAS LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS reference under S. 61 (1) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, arises out of determination proceedings under S. 52 of the said Act.

(2.) THE respondents, Voltas Ltd. are a public limited company. At the relevant time they were acting as distributors for Kaira District Co -operative Milk Producers' Union, Anand, in the State of Gujarat. The said Union manufactures various products, including cheese. The cheese so manufactured by them was marketed in various forms, including in the form of cheese cubes or as they are referred to on the record, chaplets, packed in aluminium foils and sold under the trade name 'Amul'. On August 24, 1967 the respondents sold 40 packets of Amul Cheese to Messrs Empire Stores for a sum of Rs. 139.20p. Each of the said 40 packets contained ten cheese cubes or chaplets, each weighing 25 grams, packed in aluminium foils. In their cash memo in respect of the cheese so supplied to Messrs Empire Stores the respondents added a sum of Rs. 6.96p. for sales tax at the rate of 5 per cent and Rs. 4.80p. for general sales tax at the rate of 3 per cent. Thus, according to the said cash memo the respondents charged and collected from M/s. Empire stores sales tax and general sales tax on the basis that these cheese cubes were taxable under entry 6 of Schedule E to the said Act.

(3.) BEING aggrieved by the said decision of the Tribunal the Commissioner of Sales tax applied to the Tribunal for stating the case to this High Court. This reference application was dismissed by the Tribunal on November 28, 1969. Thereafter the Applicant applied to this High Court for directing the Tribunal to state the case and refer to the High Court for its opinion the following question :