MEWAR SUGAR MILLS LTD Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ALL these three references under sec. 15 of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954 (hereinafter called the Act) raise similar questions of law and are, therefore, disposed of by one judgment.

(2.) WE first of all take up Sales Tax Reference No. 41/67 Mewar Sugar Mills Ltd vs. State of Rajasthan.

(3.) IN Hyderabed Deccan Cigarette Factory vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (5), the Department sought to assess a manufacturing dealer of cigarettes on the turnover in respect of packing materials consisting of cardboard and dealwood. Their Lordships of the Supreme Court pointed out whether there was an agreement to sell the packing materials was a pure question of fact and that question could not be decided on fiction or surmises. The burden lay on the Commercial Tax Officer to prove that the turnover was liable to tax and he could ask the assessee to produce relevant material. If the assessee did not produce the same, he could draw adverse inferences against the assessee but he had to decide the crucial question whether the packing materials were the subject of the agreement of sale, express or implied.