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TMI Blog1990 (11) TMI 382X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s to Andhra Pradesh and sells them within the State of Andhra Pradesh. On the basis of representations from re-rollers and traders, the State Government of Andhra Pradesh issued certain notifications under section 9 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act meant to minimise the burden of taxation on the finished products of iron and steel derived out of the tax-suffered raw material such as scrap and ingots. The petitioner stands excluded from the application of those notifications by reason of the fact that it has no re-rolling mill in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The petitioner pleads that notwithstanding the fact that its manufacturing unit is situated outside the State of Andhra Pradesh, the benefits conferred by the said notificatio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on two Government orders, viz., G.O. Ms. No. 1373 Revenue, dated 28th August, 1981, amending G.O. Ms. No. 88, Revenue, dated 28th January, 1977 and G.O. Ms. No. 498, Revenue, dated 20th March, 1984. It is useful to extract these Government orders. G.O. Ms. No. 88, Revenue, dated 28th January, 1977, as it stood on the date of promulgation of G.O. Ms. No. 1373 Revenue, dated 28th August, 1981, reads: "In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 9 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 (Act VI of 1957), the Governor of Andhra Pradesh hereby makes an exemption with effect from the 1st April, 1976, the re-rolled finished products of the steel re-rollers from the tax payable under the said Act, subject to the cond ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hase of ingots and billets by them in the State) situated within the State of Andhra Pradesh and sold inside the State shall be reduced by the amount of tax levied and collected on such ingots and billets during the period from the 4th of February, 1982, to the 31st of March, 1985." Reference was also made by the learned counsel to G.O. Ms. No. 1194 dated 17th July, 1984. However, the notification issued in the said Government order obviously has no application to the petitioner as indisputably, the petitioner did not "sell" any iron and steel scrap within the State of Andhra Pradesh. It is true that as contended by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the benefits conferred by the aforementioned two Government orders are applicabl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... legislation or notification offending article 14 of the Constitution, having regard to the intent and purpose of the notification, we are unable to say that such a judicial exercise is possible. We are not sure whether the Government could have issued the aforementioned notifications if they had been aware of the fact that the exemption/set-off should be extended either to all finished products or to none at all. Presumably that is the reason why the Supreme Court as well as this Court struck down the notification in toto and directed the levy of a uniform higher rate in relation to the goods manufactured locally as well as the goods brought from outside the State. It was further directed in Video Electronics Pvt. Ltd. case [1988] 71 STC 3 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ettled that a taxation law though not immune from challenge from the stand-point of article 14 of the Constitution, a greater degree of judicial indulgence is called for and the State is to be allowed a wider latitude in the matter of classification. It is not a condition of the guarantee of equal protection that all transactions, properties, objects or persons of the same genus must be affected by it or none at all. (Vide V.R. Varma Rajah v. Union of India AIR 1969 SC 1094). The following observations of the Supreme Court in Orient Weaving Mills (P) Ltd. v. Union of India AIR 1963 SC 98 are quite apposite: "The Act recognises and only gives effect to the well established principle that there must be a great deal of flexibility in the inc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... anufacture cannot be said to be an irrational or impermissible classification. One more valid basis for classification is furnished by the reason given in the counter-affidavit. It is stated that in the case of finished products manufactured outside the State, it is difficult to ascertain the identity of the goods. The exemption is available only if out of the raw material that suffered tax within the State the finished products are manufactured and sold within the State. But, as pointed out in the counter, there is no guarantee that the finished products that are brought from the other State would be manufactured out of the scrap/ingots that were purchased within the State of Andhra Pradesh because there is a possibility of the said finish ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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