BANCHHANIDHI MISRA Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner has been assessed to sales tax and penalty on the turnover of his contract works. The grievance ventilated before us is two -fold : Firstly, that the contract was entered into long before this Sales Tax Act came into force; and the benefit under the contract is not liable to be taxed under the Act; and secondly, that the contract related to earth work and there was no sale of goods as such which alone can render the petitioner liable to assessment under the Orissa Sales Tax Act. The facts disclosed by the petitioner are that he supplied earth for the construction of a double -embankment over the relief channel from the Dhamna to the Kushabhadra rivers. The tender had been accepted on 9th October, 1947, but the work appears to have been commenced some time before March, 1947. A certified copy of the ledger of the P.W.D. has been filed before us and it shows that the rates were finally settled by the Superintending Engineer by his letter No. 21, dated 22nd February, 1947, and the first payment was made to the contractor on 30th March, 1947. Therefore payments were made to him from time to time, and the total amount received by him amounted to over one lakh of rupees.

(2.) THE point taken by Mr. Misra on behalf of the petitioner is that the Act itself exempts contractors who entered into their contracts before a specified date, from liability to pay tax. He has relied on the proviso to section 4(1) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act. That proviso reads as follows : -