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TMI Blog1994 (11) TMI 337X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... K. Agnihotri, Sakesh Kumar and Ashok K. Singh, Advocates, with them), for the appearing parties. -------------------------------------------------- The judgment of the Court was delivered by R.M. SAHAI, J.-The question that arises for consideration in these appeals, directed against the judgment and order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, is whether entry tax on goods such as sugar on which no sales tax is leviable, could be subjected to levy under section 3(1)(a) of the Madhya Pradesh Sthaniya Kshetra Me Mal Ke Pravesh Par Kar Adhiniyam, 1976 (hereinafter referred to as "the Entry Tax Act"). Even though legislative competence of the State Legislature was the principal attack on the validity of the levy in the High ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the tax and other fixing the person from whom it shall be realised. The latter is more a part of machinery provision. It cannot control the main or the substantive part of the section. The taxable event is the entry of goods in a local area of the State by a dealer in course of business and not its purchase. To characterise it as purchase tax is ignoring the nature of levy. Nor there is any merit in the submission that the language of the section is vague and discriminatory and it would result in excluding those dealers who were not registered under the Sales Tax Act. Registration under the Sales Tax Act is provided for every dealer whose turnover is Rs. 1,000 per year. Therefore, no dealer except of course hypothetically can be excluded f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e the State in a local area. (d) For consumption, use or sale. Liability to pay sales tax on the goods specified in Schedule II is thus not an essential ingredient of levy. The expression "liable to tax" has been used to identify the person who shall pay the entry tax. To put it conversely if any goods mentioned in Schedule II are brought from outside the State by a person who is not liable to tax under the Sales Tax Act then entry tax shall not be realised from such person. The intention is to levy tax only when the goods are brought inside the State by a dealer carrying on business whose turnover is not less than Rs. 1,000 annually and not by any other person. In other words, the tax is leviable on all goods specified in Schedule II bro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... may remain ineffective if there is no machinery provision. But the provision for realisation of tax from the dealer who effects the entry of goods does not make it a condition for the levy of tax. Tax under section 3 is on bringing of goods inside the local area by a dealer for consumption, use or sale therein irrespective of whether sales tax is payable on it or not. Therefore, sugar on which no sales tax is leviable because additional excise duty is payable would not be beyond the taxing net. Even the submission on article 301 of the Constitution is not well-founded. The article came up for interpretation by this Court in Atiabari Tea Co. Ltd. v. State of Assam [1961] 1 SCR 809; AIR 1961 SC 232 and Automobile Transport (Rajasthan) Ltd. v ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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