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TMI Blog2006 (2) TMI 606X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tem No. 58 of Schedule IV of the Act. It is contended that the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 was repealed by the Andhra Pradesh Value Added Tax Ordinance, 2005 which was, later on, enacted as Act No. 5 of 2005. Under the APGST Act 6 of 1957 the Government, in exercise of its power under section 9, issued notification in G.O. Ms. No. 1091 (Revenue) dated June 10, 1957 exempting from tax the sales of fresh milk, curd and butter milk sold by dealers exclusively dealing in them and their products realised from surplus thereof. Another G.O. Ms. No. 20, dated January 20, 1980 was issued granting exemptions in respect of sales of pasteurised milk. The said notifications fell for interpretation in various decisions before the Sales Tax ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f the Supreme Court reported in D.S. Nakara v. Union of India (1983) 1 SCC 305. This case, in our view, has no relevance. It was dealing with a case pertaining to the pensioners and the court was examining as to whether the class of pensioners was further divisible for the purpose of entitlement and payment of pension into those who retired by certain date and those who retired after that date. The court held that the classification was too microscopic classification. The reasons for coming to this conclusion were given in the judgment itself. In paras 28 and 29, the Supreme Court made the following observations: 28. Pensions to civil employees of the Government and the defence personnel as administered in India appear to be a compensat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r pension is the inability to provide for oneself due to old age. One may live and avoid unemployment but not senility and penury if there is nothing to fall back upon. 5.. Another judgment on which reliance has been placed by the learned counsel for the petitioners is the judgment of the Gujarat High Court reported in Chunilal Mayachand v. State of Gujarat [1992] 86 STC 105. The question with which we are concerned and was before the Gujarat High Court was whether milkmaid full-cream condensed milk was not milk, whole or separated or reconstituted as appearing in entry 10(i) of Schedule I to the Gujarat Sales Tax Act, 1969. The sales tax authority had held that the two products were neither milk, whole, separated or reconstituted ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... clusion that the condensed milk was nothing but milk in concentrated form which is obtained by evaporating water from milk in a fluid state and thereafter some sugar or preservative is added to it. The court held that the condensed milk, as a matter of fact, was milk and not product. The Madras High Court accepted the view of the Allahabad High Court and held that the condensed milk was milk. There was no separate entry for condensed milk. 7.. In a judgment of the Supreme Court reported in Collector of Central Excise v. Technoweld Industries [2003] 1 RC 851; [2003] 155 ELT 209, the question before the court was whether by drawing wire into a thinner gauge, manufacture had taken place. The further question was whether the wire of the thin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y the State. Therefore, the judgments referred to by the learned counsel for the petitioners would not be helpful in any way to come to a correct conclusion. 10.. The learned counsel for the respondents has referred to a judgment of the Supreme Court reported in State of Andhra Pradesh v. Mcdowell Co. (1996) 3 SCC 709, to submit that mere allegation of unreasonableness was not enough to strike down an enactment. He submits that the Supreme Court has held that the Act can be struck down only on two grounds, viz., (1) lack of legislative competence or (2) violation of fundamental rights or any other constitutional provision. The Supreme Court, in this judgment, categorically stated that an enactment cannot be struck down on the plea that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... granite stones were shown under two different entries, they could be taxed differently. 15.. The learned counsel for the petitioners has also placed before us the definition of milk. As we have already framed an opinion that the question before us is not whether skimmed milk powder and UHT milk is milk or not, the question is what is the effect of having two different entries for fresh milk and pasteurised milk and skimmed milk powder and UHT milk . Since there were judgments of this Court and other courts that dehydrated milk was milk, the Legislature, in its wisdom, thought it fit to place the milk and milk products under different categories and tax skimmed milk powder and UHT milk and not to tax fresh milk and pasteur ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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