GANGA RAM SURAJ PARKASH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS judgment will dispose of a grant of ten petitions under the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 (hereinafter called the Act), all raising a common question of law stated by the Financial Commissioner as a result of the directions given to him by this Court under Sub-section (3) of Section 22 of the Act. In petitions Ganga Ram Suraj Parkash v. The State, S. T. R. No. 4 of 1961, Sultani Mal Amar Chand v. The State, S. T. R. No. 5 of 1961, Vijay Bharat Oil Mills v. The State, S. T. R. No. 7 of 1961, Sansari Mal Jagdish Chand v. The Slate, S. T. R. No. 8 of 1961, Man Singh Gian Singh v. The State, S. T. R. No. 9 of 1961 and Hira Nand Daulat Ram v. The State, S. T. R. No. 10 of 1961, the Financial Commissioner, Punjab, by his order of the 30th of March, 1961, has referred the following question for the opinion of this Court: Having found that notification No. 3483-E. and T.-54/723 (CH) of 5th August, 1954, had the effect of imposing a tax on the sale of edible oils, which were declared tax-free before and which had been declared by Act 52 of 1952 to be essential for the life of the community and that the said notification had never received the assent of the President of India, is the Financial Commissioner justified in holding that the notification of 5th August, 1954, did not constitute law made by the Legislature of the State.

(2.) IN the other set of four petitions, Sansari Mal Puran Chand v. The State, S. T. R. No. 13 of 1961, Hira Nand Daulat Ram v. The State of Punjab, S. T. R. No. 14 of 1961, Ganga Ram Suraj Parkash v. The Punjab State, S. T. R. No. 15 of 1961 and Hira Nand Daulat Ram v. The State of Punjab, S. T. R. No. 16 of 1961, the Financial Commissioner, Punjab, by his order of the 31st of August, 1961, has referred the following question for the opinion of this Court: the question which arises in all these cases is whether a notification issued by the Punjab Government dated the 5th of August, 1954, whereby exemption from sales tax granted by the Government in respect of certain edible oils was abolished in the case of such edible oils produced in ghanis run by mechanical process was intra vires.

(3.) THOUGH the form of question is somewhat different in the two sets of references, the substance of the dispute in all these cases touches the validity of the notification of the 5th of August, 1954. The petitioners in all the ten cases are commission agents and have been transacting business in edible oils. In the case of six petitions, the assessment has been made for the years 1954-55 and 1955-56, while in the set of the remaining four cases the assessment years are those of 1955-56 and I956-57.