1990 (10) TMI 345 - HC - VAT and Sales Tax

Summary

Issues: Interpretation of notification under Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act regarding the date of coming into force.

In this tax case, the main issue was to determine the date from which a notification issued under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, would come into force in the absence of any specific date mentioned in the notification itself. The respondent was assessed for the year 1973-1974 on a turnover related to sales of dust of grams and pulses. The Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal granted exemption on the entire turnover based on the view that the notification must be deemed to have come into force from the beginning of the assessment year, i.e., April 1, 1973 onwards. The Revenue challenged this decision through a revision petition, arguing that in the absence of a specified date in the notification, it should come into force on the date of its publication in the Gazette as per section 53(4)(b) of the Act.

The respondent-assessee relied on a Supreme Court judgment to support their position that the exemption notification should operate from the beginning of the assessment year. However, the Court distinguished the case at hand from the Supreme Court judgment, emphasizing the presence of an express provision in section 53(4)(b) of the Act. The Court held that the Tribunal erred in applying the Supreme Court's ratio to the current case and concluded that the notification should come into force on the date of its publication in the Gazette. As a result, the tax case was allowed in favor of the Revenue, with no order as to costs.