Judgment

Sen, J.- Premier Breweries Limited,

the appellant herein, is a dealer in Indian Made Foreign Liquor. The liquor is sold in bottles packed in cardboard cartons. The dispute in this case arose in course of sales tax assessment for the year 1982-83. Before the Assessing Officer the assessee’s case was that the cardboard cartons will have to be taxed at the rate of 8% under Entry 97 of the First Schedule of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 and not at the rate of 50% applicable to sale of liquor. The appellant’s case was that it had charged its customers separately for the liquor and the cartons. There was no reason to include the value of the cartons in the value of the liquor for the purpose of levy of tax. Initially, the assessee’s stand was accepted by the Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax and an assessment order was passed accordingly.

2. Later on the Deputy Commissioner, Palghat, thought that an error has been committed in the assessment order and in exercise of his revisional power under Section 35 of the Act he set aside the assess­ment order. The Deputy Commissioner was of the view that the Assessing Authority had erroneously levied tax at the rate of 8% on pack