9911796707
TMI Blog1979 (10) TMI 208X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... odhpur, was a 'dealer' within the meaning of section 2(f) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954, for the assessment year 1956-57 and was consequently liable to pay sales tax under that Act?" For the period from 1st April, 1956, to 31st March, 1957, the Divisional Superintendent, Northern Railway, Jodhpur, was assessed to sales tax on the sale of coal-ash made by him. The Sales Tax Officer held that the Divisional Superintendent, Northern Railway, Jodhpur, came within the definition of "dealer" as defined in the Act. The assessee filed appeal to the Deputy Commissioner (Appeals), Sales Tax, Jodhpur, but was unsuccessful. He preferred a revision before the Board of Revenue for Rajasthan, which allowed the same and set aside the order of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a State Government or any of their departments in respect of any such business, a Hindu undivided family and a society, club or any other association which buys goods from, or sells or supplies goods to, its members." The learned counsel for the Northern Railway has urged that the Central Government and its departments are not included in the definition of the word "dealer", as it stood at the relevant time. His argument is that since the State Government is expressly included in the term, but the Central Government has been excluded, the intention of the legislature is clear and points to the fact that the Central Government was exempted from the application of the Act. At this stage, we may observe that there is no doubt that the Northe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... thern Railway, Jodhpur v. Assistant Commercial Taxation Officer [1976] 37 S.T.C. 423 (S.C.); A.I.R. 1976 S.C. 489., the Supreme Court observed that the fact that though the activity involved in selling unserviceable material and scrap-iron, etc., would not amount to carrying on business in the normal connotation of that term, yet it would be business as defined in the Act. Their Lordships further observed that the railway, since it is concerned in the activity of transportation, is engaged in commerce within the meaning of clause (i) of the definition and the sale of unserviceable materials and scrap-iron, etc., by it is a transaction in connection with or ancillary to such commerce within clause (ii) of that definition. As regards the de ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the State." Admittedly, in the present case, the Central Government is not expressly excepted from the operation of the Act and there do not appear to us any circumstances from which such an exception may necessarily be implied. The argument of the learned counsel for the railway is that since the State Government was included within the definition of the term "dealer" but the Central Government was not so included, it must be inferred by necessary intendment that the intention of the legislature was to exclude the Central Government and its departments from the definition. In this connection, we may point out that the State Government was not included in the definition of the term "dealer " prior to 1st April, 1958. It appears to us t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t have also observed, while dealing with the definition of the term "person" in section 10(1) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953, that there is no reason to exclude the Government of India from the expression "person" occurring in sub-section (1) of section 10 of the Act. Be that as it may, in face of the authoritative pronouncement of their Lordships in the Superintendent and Remembrancer of Legal Affairs, West BengalA.I.R. 1967 S.C. 997., there remains no room for argument that the State Government or the Government of India, as the case may be, are not governed by the general law unless there is a specific provision incorporated in the law applying the Act to them. This is clear from the passage we have extracted above from their Lordship ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
