STATE OF ORISSA Vs. TATA ROBINS FRASHERS LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Judgement 1. This is a petition by the State under Sec. 24(2)(b) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947 (OST Act) praying for a direction to the Orissa Sales Tax Tribunal (Tribunal) to refer the following questions of law for opinion of this Court along with a statement of the case:

(2.) The background facts are that the Opposite Party entered into a contract with M/s. Tata Iron and Steel Company Ltd., Jamshedpur for and on behalf of M/s. IPITATA Sponge Iron Plant Ltd., Biliepada in Orissa for designing, engineering, manufacturing, supply erection and commissioning of equipments for the materials handling system for IPITATA Sponge Iron Steel Plant. The question that arose before the Sales Tax Officer (STO) was whether this entire transaction was in the nature of an inter-state sale as claimed by the Assessee and therefore not amenable to tax under the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947 (OST Act) or was it an intra-state sale?

(3.) The STO, by the assessment order dtd. 29/8/1987 for the year 1985-86, came to the conclusion that on examination of the conditions attached to the agreement between the parties that "it can be safely concluded that the contract executed by the dealer at IPITATA Bileipada is an indivisible contract and hence the transactions come under the purview of the definition of 'Sale' under Sec. 2(JJ) of the O.S.T. Act." It was noted by the STO that the dealer had executed the alleged work from the year 1984-85 to 1986-87 and in that view of the matter, the dealer had to be assessed as a works contractor during the year under review.