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TMI Blog1976 (3) TMI 199X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hould have read, "In the result, we answer the question submitted to us in the affirmative". We, therefore, correct our said judgment accordingly. The judgment of the Court was delivered by KANIA, J.-This is a reference under section 9(2) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as "the said Act"), read with section 34 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953, made at the instance of the assessees. The question, which has been referred to us for our determination, is as follows: "Whether, on a true and proper interpretation of the proviso to subsection (1) of section 8 and section 2(i) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, as it stood prior to 1st October, 1958, and having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e assessees that they were entitled to exemption under the aforesaid proviso on the ground that the sales of motor spirit were exempted from tax under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953. The assessees have now approached this court by way of this reference. Before going to the arguments advanced before us, it will be useful to set out some of the relevant provisions of the said Act, as they stood at the relevant time. Section 8(1) of the said Act runs as follows: "Rates of tax on sales in the course of inter-State trade or commerce.(1) Every dealer who, in the course of inter-State trade or commerce, sells to a registered dealer goods of the description referred to in sub-section (3) shall be liable to pay tax under this Act, which shall be o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r section 7(1) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953, read with entry 35 of Schedule A to that Act, as it stood at the relevant time, such sales were exempted generally from the payment of sales tax under that Act, viz., the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953. It was urged by him that the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953, at the relevant time, was the sales tax law for the appropriate State, viz., the State of Bombay, as it then was, and as the sales and purchases of motor spirit by a dealer were exempted from tax generally under that law, the proviso to section 8(1) of the said Act was applicable and the assessees were entitled to the exemption granted thereunder. It was further urged by him that the expression "the sales tax lawused in the said proviso to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ut it is further necessary that the sale or purchase of the said goods should not be liable to tax under any sales tax law relating to specified goods. In the present case, there is no dispute that the sale and purchase of motor spirits were liable to tax at the relevant time under the Bombay Sales of Motor Spirit Taxation Act, 1946, and hence it cannot be said that they were exempted from tax under all laws levying sales tax in the then State of Bombay. In view of this, in our opinion, the exemption granted under the proviso to section 8(1) of the said Act is not attracted and the assessees cannot claim the benefit thereof. It was next submitted by Mr. Patel that the assessees were entitled to the benefit of the exemption given under the p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e extent and urgency of the evil which he sought to remedy (see Commissioner of Sales Tax, Bombay v. Lala Lajpatrai Hotel[1975] 35 S.T.C. 368 at 372. Under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1939, a tax on the sale of motor spirit and certain type of textile mentioned in the schedule thereto was levied in the then Province of Bombay. In 1946 there appeared a need to augment the provincial revenue in order to meet the expenditure, recurring and non-recurring, on post-war reconstruction, and it was felt necessary to enact a law for the imposition of sales tax on a wide range of commodities. This appears from the statement of objects and reasons appended to the Bill, which ultimately became the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1946 (Bombay Act No. 5 of 1946). Thi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... inued to remain subject to the levy of tax under the Bombay Sales of Motor Spirit Taxation Act, 1946. It was in view of this and in consonance with the scheme followed in 1946 that this exemption given under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1946, was continued under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953. This legislative history makes it quite clear that it was never the legislative intention that the sales of motor spirit should be exempted from the levy of sales tax, but the exemption was granted from such levy under the general sales tax law, namely, the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953, merely on account of the item being taxed under a separate sales tax law dealing in particular with that item. In the result, in our view, the question referred to us must ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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