(1.) By making this writ petition, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the writ Petitioner, who is a 'works contractor', has put to challenge, in the context of imposition of tax on execution of 'works contract', the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Tripura Sales Tax Act, 1976 (in short, the 'TST Act, 1976'), and the Tripura Sales Tax Rules, 1976 (in short, 'the TST Rules'). The principal challenge, in the present writ petition, is, therefore, to the constitutional validity of Section 3A of the TST Act, 1976, read with Rule 3A(1) of the TST Rules, which provide for levy of tax on transfer of property in goods involved in the execution of 'works contract' and Section 3AA of the TST Act, 1976, read with Rule 3 of the TST Rules, which provide for deduction of tax, at source, at the time of making of payments to a 'works contractor' for execution of 'works contract'. The Petitioner has also challenged the constitutional validity of the definitions of certain terms, namely, 'dealer', as given in Section 2(b) of the TST Act, 1976, 'sale', as given in Section 2(g) of the TST Act, 1976, 'sale price', as given in Section 2(h) of the TST Act, 1976, and 'turnover', as given in Section 2(m) of the TST Act, 1976.
(2.) The factual background of the case, which has given rise to the above challenges posed to the constitutional validity of the various provisions of the TST Act, 1976, and the Rules framed there under, may, first, be noted.
(3.) Respondent No. 2, namely, Executive Engineer, Rig Division, Department of Public Works, Govt. of Tripura, at Agartala, issued a Notice Inviting Tender (in short, 'the NIT') for drilling and development of 15 deep tube-wells in different places of West Tripura district, the estimated cost of the work being Rs. 24,36,390/-. In response to the NIT, the Petitioner, amongst others, participated in the tender process and was, eventually, awarded the contract. The Petitioner accordingly started execution of the contract work and raised, in course of time, 15 Running Accounts Bill (in short, 'the RA Bills'). However, Respondent No. 2 made a deduction, at source, at the rate of 4% from the RA Bills in respect of sales tax, deductible at source, treating the said contract as a contract for works, i.e., works contract from the total amount of Rs. 27,40,128/-, which had been raised by the said 15 RA Bills, a sum of Rs. 1,09,604/- having been so deducted from each bill. These deductions have been impugned by the Petitioner as wholly without jurisdiction and illegal inasmuch as the Petitioner contends that the said contract is a contract for service and not a works contract and, hence, no tax, under the TST Act, 1976, could have been validly imposed and, in this context, the constitutionality of the various provisions, as indicated above, have been questioned by the Petitioner.
ABOUT US "REGENT COMPUTRONICS PVT. LTD." is a Company incorporated in 1991 under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956. Since its inception to 1995, the Company was busy in carrying out the activities related to various Banks' Job Work..
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