9911796707
TMI Blog1985 (12) TMI 351X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Sector 17, Chandigarh, which is being run by it providing various services and amenities such as central cooling, wall to wall rubber laid carpeting and mosaic flooring, special sophisticated made to order furniture, counters of marble all around and the walls behind the counters are all made of marble. It is averred that the kitchen equipment is electric/gas and is highly sophisticated. It is laid out to ensure cleanliness and please the palate of the visitors. This facility is specifically provided to make a visual appeal to the visitors wishing to satisfy their bodily needs. Specialised, trained and skilled staff is employed by the petitioner to ensure quick preparation and services and that the visitors personal tastes are catered with promptness. There are pleasant and tasteful setting, furnishings, potted plants, etc. Besides, music, western and traditional, is played through a sophisticated stereophonic system in the establishment. Lighting arrangement is so made as to give a soothing feeling. Serviettes provided are of finest and cutlery and crockery are of the best quality. Besides the said service, food and beverages are provided by the petitioner in the restaurant. The p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... one cannot sit at ease like a restaurant in wide open place. The premises of the petitioner is known as "snack-bar". The meaning of "bar" means to stand at a place. In every restaurant the customer is provided water on arrival into it by a well-dressed waiter and which adds to the service of the customers. In the petitioner's premises, one has to drink water from the cooler. (g) It has been generally seen that in the premises of the petitioner, that the customers have a right over the left-over because due to paucity of space the customers sometime carry the snacks outside and eat around the fountain. Respondent No. 2 thus concluded that the eatables and beverages served at the petitioner's premises are liable to sales tax and, therefore, directed the petitioner to produce the account books for the years 1980-81, 1981-82 and 1982-83 for working out the tax liability. To the same effect are the notices (annexures P.3 and P.4). The petitioner has impugned the legality and validity of the above notices. Right at the beginning, the learned counsel for the respondents raised a preliminary objection to the effect that since no order of assessment of sales tax had yet been passed b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... urnishing and furniture for suitable comfort of the visitor, he is also entertained by music, western and traditional, through the stereo system. After the visitor consumes the eatables and beverages then the personnel of the petitioner clear out the tables and remove the used crockery and cutlery for cleaning purpose. The fact that the visitor can see the dishes being prepared on the other side of the counter or that he himself carries the dishes or beverages so prepared and thus according to respondent No. 2 the services rendered are somewhat less than what are generally provided in other restaurants would hardly make any difference. The essential fact which has to be seen is that the eatables are not taken out of the premises nor are they sold for such purpose. These are in fact consumed and thus destroyed in the premises itself. The services rendered may vary from one establishment to the other. Their mode, and quality may also be different so as to meet the needs of the type of visitors for whom in general the premises are made to cater. Shopping centre of sector 17, Chandigarh, is undisputably modern in character. The visitor to the shopping centre generally needs respite and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ted portion becomes his. He is privileged to eat, and that is all. The uneaten food is not his. He cannot do what he pleases with it. That which is set before him or placed at his command is provided to enable him to satisfy his immediate wants, and for no other purpose. He may satisfy those wants; but there he must stop. He may not turn over unconsumed portions to others at his pleasure, or carry away such portions. The true essence of the transaction is service in the satisfaction of a human need or desire,-ministry to a bodily want. A necessary incident of this service or ministry is the consumption of the food required. This consumption involves destruction, and nothing remains of what is consumed to which the right of property can be said to attach. Before consumption title does not pass; after consumption there remains nothing to become the subject of title. What the customer pays for is a right to satisfy his appetite by the process of destruction. What he thus pays for includes more than the price of the food as such. It includes all that enters into the conception of service, and with it no small factor of direct personal service. It does not contemplate the transfer of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is the proprietor of a restaurant runs in the name and style of "Shri Rama Restaurant", Regulated Market Committee Yard, Davanagere, has questioned the legality of assessing his turnover in the restaurant business under the Karnataka Sales Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) on the ground that what is rendered in the course of his business to his customers is service to the customers and that there is no sale of food articles. 2.. In the case of Northern India Caterers (India) Ltd. v. Lt. Governor of Delhi [1978] 42 STC 386 (SC), the Supreme Court came to the conclusion that the service of meals to casual visitors in a restaurant located in a hotel in which lodging and meals are provided on "inclusive terms" to residents is not taxable as a sale under the Act. It further held that the position is the same even in respect of the charge imposed for the meal as a whole or according to dishes separately ordered. The decision has further laid down that supply of food and drinks can only be regarded as service and not as sale, irrespective of whether such service is to a resident of the hotel or casual customers to the restaurant. 3.. The learned Government Advocate sought ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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