9911796707
TMI Blog1999 (5) TMI 591X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... osed of on June 17, 1997 permitting the petitioners to file objections. Thereafter the present impugned order has been passed on September 16, 1998 imposing tax to the tune of Rs. 41,36,520 and penalty of Rs. 62,04,780. In O.P. No. 1959 of 1998 the order of assessment dated September 16, 1998 is challenged. In O.P. No. 1960 of 1998 a declaration is sought for to invalidate the serial number 63 of Part D of the First Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 as inserted by Tamil Nadu Act 24 of 1993, as being contrary to sections 14 and 15 of the Central Sales Tax Act and section 4 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act. It is also contended that the said entry 63 is violative of articles 14, 301 and 304 of the Constitution of India. 2.. The commodity sugar was not declared as goods of special importance under section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 when the said Act was enacted with effect from December 21, 1956. The Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance) Act, 1957 was enacted by Parliament to declare goods of special importance in inter-State trade and commerce. In this enactment sugar was declared as one of the items and therefore subject t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ing No. Sub heading No. Description of goods Rate of duty Basic Additional (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 17.01 Cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose, in solid form -Sugar, in or in relation to the 1701.10 manufacture of which no process is ordinarily carried on with the aid power. Nil Nil 1701.20 -Khandsari sugar Sugar, other than khandsari sugar; Nil (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Rs. Rs. 1701.31 Required by the Central Government to be sold under clause (f) of subsection (2) of section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (10 of 1955). 25 per quintal 25 per quintal 1701.39 -Other -Other 45 per quintal 1701.30 45 per quintal 17.02 Other sugars, including chemically Pure lactose, maltose, glucose and Fructose in any form and preparations thereof; sugar syr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ribes the point of levy and fixes the rate of tax within the limits of section 15 of the Central Sales Tax Act, the impugned action of the respondents is illegal and unconstitutional. On the contrary the answer of the respondents is that what is declared as goods of special importance relates only to the specific sub-headings mentioned in section 14(viii) and not to the commodities sugar in general. In other words, the Parliament declared only certain kinds of sugar as goods of special importance in the course of interState trade and commerce. The commodity refined sugar imported by the petitioners from Thailand does not at all fall under any of the description covered under the various sub-headings mentioned in section 14(viii) of the Central Sales Tax Act. 6.. Therefore, the dispute between the parties is at the threshold namely, as to whether imported goods is declared goods or not. If this question is answered one way or the other, most of the other contentions automatically stand resolved. 7.. The issues to be decided in these two O.Ps. are as follows: 1.. Whether imported sugar has been declared to be goods of special importance and if so subject to the restrictions pre ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed the following goods: Cotton fabrics, woollen fabrics and rayon or artificial silk fabrics, as defined in items 19, 21 and 22 respectively of the First Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (Central Act 1 of 1944). 11.. The assessee dealt with foreign fabrics which were not manufactured in India, but were confiscated smuggled foreign woollen and artificial silk fabrics, and successfully claimed exemption under the above entry. It was held that it is not a condition for exemption that the goods must have suffered excise duty. 12.. In [1994] 92 STC 471 (Mad.) (State of Tamil Nadu v. Asian Engineering Company) it was held that rubber belting was declared goods and unless the State Act fixes the rate and stage of taxation they are not exigible to tax. The Supreme Court in [1985] 60 STC 1 (Govind Saran Ganga Saran v. Commissioner of Sales Tax) said the same thing, namely, that if the State Act does not fix the ascertainable point of taxation clearly no tax was payable on declared goods. 13.. The above decisions do not significantly advance the case of the petitioners. Before us we are facing an entirely new situation. To recapitulate the facts, at the relevant p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... clause 1701.90 which has a single hyphen and refers others . This means 1701.90 refers to cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose in solid form . Therefore, all other types of sugar are covered by 1701.90 which unfortunately for the petitioner is not included in section 14(viii) of the Central Sales Tax Act. 16.. The next argument of Mr. C. Natarajan, is that a declaration under section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act should be looked into from the angle of the purpose for which a declaration is made. Even if follow the parameters as given in the Text Book Chaturvedi s Central Sales Tax Laws, we are unable to hold in favour of the petitioners. The following characteristics should be exhibited by the commodity for finding a place in the list. They are: (i) it should be raw material or largely in the nature of raw material; (ii) either as raw material, or later as finished goods based on such material, it should, in terms of volume of inter-State transactions, be of special importance in inter-State trade; and (iii) in terms of the country as a whole, it should also be of special importance from the point of view of the consumer or industry. The above parameters a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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