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TMI Blog1960 (3) TMI 38X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... les tax under the article; (2) Whether the Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes had no power or jurisdiction to revise the assessment already made by him on appeal as an appellate authority by subsequent exercise of revisional powers under the Madras General Sales Tax Act and the rules framed thereunder. Before dealing with the above questions, it would be necessary to state a few facts: The assessee, namely the Burmah-Shell Oil Storage and Distributing Company of India Limited, Vizagapatnam, hereinafter referred to as the petitioner, is a dealer in petroleum products. In the course of the business, the petitioner was importing into India kerosene, furnace oil, petroleum and other petroleum products, in large stocks for sale in India ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... law of a State shall impose, or authorise the imposition of, a tax on the sale or purchase of goods where such sale or purchase takes place- (a) outside the State; or (b) in the course of the import of the goods into, or export of the goods out of, the territory of India. (2) Parliament may by law formulate principles for determining when a sale or purchase of goods takes place in any of the ways mentioned in clause (1)." The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that the petitioner imports oils and other petroleum products from other countries into India for sale in India, the place of entry being the Vizagapatnam harbour. He points out that in regard to the stocks imported for sale and consumption in India, those ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that the course of the export out of, or of the import into, the territory of India does not commence or terminate until the goods cross the customs frontier. It is, however, to be noted that the question of imposing sales tax on transfer of goods in the course of export would not often arise in practice for, where the goods are transported pursuant to a contract of sale already concluded with a foreign buyer and the shipping documents having been forwarded to him, any further sale of such goods by the Indian seller is impossible, and where the export trade is conducted through representatives or branch offices, the sale by the latter of the exported goods usually takes place abroad and would not then be subjected to tax by the State in Ind ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Supreme Court's decision must be regarded as complete. Applying this to the facts of the present case, the moment the oils and petroleum products crossed the outer limit of the territorial sea abutting the shores of Vizagapatnam, and they enter the territorial water limits of India, the goods must be regarded as having crossed the customs frontier, so that the importation of the goods into India must then be regarded as complete and once the customs frontier is crossed the exemption under Article 286(1)(b) of the Constitution will vanish as the goods must be regarded as having ceased to be in the course of import, and any sale effected thereafter, whether in the limits of the territorial sea or on land, from out of a bonded warehouse, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... refore, no question of any export at all involved in this case, the one and important condition required to make it an export sale being that the delivery of the goods should be effected to the common carrier for the purpose of delivery to the buyer at the other end in the foreign country. We see no difficulty in rejecting this contention of Mr. Anantha Babu, the learned counsel for the petitioner. The second point taken, as already stated, is that the Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes having dealt with an appeal against the assessment by the Commercial Tax Officer and having confirmed the same, is precluded from exercising his revisional powers, and enhancing the assessment. In this connection, the relevant provisions bearing on th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... persons subordinate to them. (3) In relation to an order of assessment passed under the Act, the powers conferred by sub-sections (1) and (2) shall be exercised(i) by the Commercial Tax Officer, only within a period of three years from the date on which the order was served on the assessee; and (ii) by the Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes and the Board of Revenue, only within a period of four years from the date on which the order was served on the assessee. (4) No order shall be passed under sub-section (1) or (2) enhancing any assessment, unless an opportunity has been given to the assessee to show cause against the proposed enhancement." A reading of these provisions makes it clear that the powers exercisable on appeal under s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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