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TMI Blog1963 (9) TMI 43X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... its local consumers within a specified area. For the purpose of distributing electricity, the petitioner has also to purchase certain goods from out-of-State dealers paying tax under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. After section 8(3) of the Central Act was amended with effect from 1958, the petitioner obtained a certificate of registration under section 7(2) of that Act, which would secure the benefit of section 8(1)(b) to the sales of goods effected by the out-ofState dealer to the petitioner. This meant that the petitioner would only be paying and the out-of-State dealer would only be collecting from it one per cent. as tax on the turnover of the transactions between them. But for section 8(1)(b), the transactions would be liable to tax ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... inclusive part of the definition. Any kind of property which is movable will, therefore, fall within the definition of "goods", provided it is transmissible or transferable from hand to hand or capable of delivery, which to my mind, need not necessarily be in a tangible or physical sense, The General Clauses Act, 1897, defines "movable property" as property of every description, except immovable property, and "immovable property" includes, of course, land, benefits to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth, or permanently fastened to the earth. Under this Act, therefore, property is divided into two broad categories as movable and immovable, and that which is not immovable is defined to be movable. This is a wide description w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ity of electricity. It may be that electricity cannot be possessed in a physical sense, like tangible goods. It may also be true partly that electricity cannot be stored except in the form of batteries and similar devices. If, therefore, electricity is property and is capable of movement and delivery in the sense I have mentioned, I do not see why it cannot be regarded as goods. 18.. American jurisprudence 407 recognises that electricity is property, capable of sale and it may be the subject of larceny. This view appears to be based upon Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority297 U.S. 288; 80 L. Ed. 688. Section 39 of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910, as a matter of fact treats' electricity as property which is capable of theft. The section ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d to accept that argument on the view that the offence of theft under section 39 depended upon the deeming provision therein. With great respect to the learned judges, I do not share the view that electricity is not property for the purpose of the Sale of Goods Act, or of the Indian Electricity Act. On the other hand, a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court in Naini Tal Hotel v. Municipal BoardA.I.R. 1946 All. 502., while on a consideration of Article 52 of the Indian Limitation Act, held that, for its purpose, electricity was property and goods. In taking that view, the Allahabad High Court referred to section 39 of the Indian Electricity Act, and the definition of "movable property" in the General Clauses Act and concluded: "For th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r inserting section 4 which specifically stated that the Act would not apply to the sale of electrical energy among certain other things. The Turnover Rules of 1939, pursuant to this section, provided for exclusion of the turnover of sales of electrical energy from the computation of taxable turnover. But these provisions, in so far as they relate to electricity, are not found repeated in the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959. On that account, however, it can (sic) be said that the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959, postulated that electricity should not be treated as "goods". As a matter of fact, section 8(3)(b) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, seems to throw light on the point. That clause in the sub-section reads: "The goods referre ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... efined by the Central Sales Tax Act practically in the same way as in the Madras General Sales Tax Act, both old and new, namely, that it means a person who carries on the business of buying and selling goods. The definition of "goods" so far as these petitions are concerned, in those enactments are more or less the same. The definition of "goods" in the Central Sales Tax Act is an inclusive one; it includes all materials, articles, commodities, and all other kinds of movable property. "Goods" for the purpose of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1939, as well as 1959, have been defined to mean all kinds of movable property other than specified items. The concepts of dealer, goods and sale in the Central and State Acts comprehend all kinds o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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