MAMAN CHAND KUNDAN LAL Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioners before us are a partnership known as Messrs Maman Chand Kundan Lal (hereinafter referred to as the firm) who carry on business as commission agents at Narwana in District Jind of Haryana State and as such are assessed to sales tax under the provisions of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948, as amended by the Haryana Legislature (hereinafter called the Haryana Act ). For the assessment year 1967-68 the Assessing Authority, who is impleaded as respondent No. 2 to the petition, rejected a plea taken on behalf of the firm that gram chhilka which was a commodity covered by transactions entered into by the firm during the year in question, was gram husk covered by item No. 15, or fodder covered by item No. 54, of Schedule B to the Haryana Act, which Schedule enumerates goods exempted from sales tax. The Assessing Authority, therefore, included transactions of sales of gram chhilka made by the firm during the year in question in its gross turnover and subjected the same to sales tax at the rate of 6 per cent. The order of the Assessing Authority is dated the 21st of November, 1968, which is challenged in this petition with the prayer that it be quashed to the extent to which it levies sales tax on the sale of gram chhilka by a writ of certiorari and that the Assessing Authority and the State of Haryana (impleaded as respondent No. 1 to the petition) be directed to refund the amount of tax charged by them on the said sales in respect of the year above-mentioned. In support of the petition the pleas raised before the Assessing Authority are reiterated and it is further averred that in any case the tax on the sale of gram chhilka could not be charged at any percentage higher than that prescribed in respect of gram itself.

(2.) THE case of the respondents is that gram chhilka is neither gram husk as contemplated by item No. 15 nor fodder within the meaning of item No. 54 above-mentioned and that its sales made by the firm were rightly taxed by the Assessing Authority.

(3.) THE case was originally placed for decision before P. C. Pandit, J. , at whose instance, however, it has come before us for disposal in view of the importance of the following two questions of law involved, as framed by him: (1) Whether 'gram chhilka' is covered by item No. 15 or item No. 54 of Schedule 'b' to the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 (Punjab Act 46 of 1948), relating to tax-free goods ? (2) If not, whether 'gram chhilka' is taxable at the rate of 1 per cent. , which was the rate of sales tax on foodgrains at the relevant time, or 6 per cent. , which was the rate of sales tax on commodities other than foodgrains ?