Judgement

SEN, J. :- The question that falls for determination on this case is whether the cast iron in the list of declared goods in the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act would inlcude Cast Iron Castings.

2. The case of the appellants is that the basic raw materials for producing cast iron are pig iron, steel scrap, iron scrap, cast iron scrap etc. After melting these raw mateils and adding requisite quantity of carbon, silica etc., the molten metal in the cupola furnace is poured into the mounds of different specifications to get the cast iron castings as required by the end user. The foundry owners like the appellant, manufacture rough cast iron castings according to the specifications of their customers, who in their turn manufacture manhole covers, pipes, components for automobile industry, agricultural implements, etc. For this the rough castings have to undergo machining, grinding, polishing and various other process.

3. Section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act declared certain goods to be of special importance in inter-State trade or commerce. In the list of goods, set out in Section 14, Iron and Steel has been included in the following manner:-

"14(iv). Iron and Steel, that is to say.-

(i) Pig iron and cast iron including ingot moulds, bottom plates, iron scrap, cast iron scrap, runner scrap and iron skull scrap;

(ii) steel semis (ingots, slabs, blooms and billets of all qualities, shapes and sizes);

(iii) skelp bars, tin bars, sheet bar, hoe-bars and sleeper bars;

(iv) steel bars (rounds, rods, squares, flats, octagons and hexagons, plain and ribbed or twisted, in coil form as well as strainght lengths);

(v) Steel structurals (angles, squares, flats, otagons and hexagons, plain and ribbed or twisted, in coil form as well as straight lengths);

(vi) sheets, hoops, strips and skelp, both black and galvanised, hot and cold rolled, plain and corrugated, in all qualities in straight lengths and in coil form, as rolled and in riveted conditions;

(vii) plates both plain and chequered in all qualities;

(viii) discs, rings, forgings and steel castings;

(ix) tool, alloy and special steels of any of the above categories;

(x) steel melting scrap in all forms including steel skull, turning and borings;

(xi) steel tubes, both welded and seamless, of all diameters and lengths, including tube fittings;

(xii) tin-plates, both hot dipped and electrolytic and tinfree plates;

(xiii) fish plate bars, bearing plate bars, crossing sleeper bars, fish plates, bearing plates, crossing sleepers and pressed steel sleepers, rails-heavy and light trance rails;

(xiv) wheels, types, axles and wheel sets;

(xv) wire rods and wires-rolled, drawn galvanised aluminised, tinned or coated such as by copper;

(xvi) defective, rejects, cuttings or end pieces of any of the above categories;"

4. Section 15 of the Act imposed restrictions and condition in regard to sales tax on sale or purchase of declared goods within a State. By Section 15 (1) of the Act, the sales tax payable under any State law in respect of any sale or purchase of declared goods inside the State shall not exceed 4% of the sale or purchase price thereof and such sales tax shall not be levied at more than one point.

5. Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act deals with tax in respect of declared goods and reads ad follows :-

"Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2) to (8) of Section 3, or Section 3-A or Section 3-B but subject to the provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 3, the tax under this Act shall be payable by a dealer on the sale or the purchase inside the State of declared goods at the rate and only at the point specified against each in the second schedule on the turnover in such goods in each year."

6. Entry 4 of the Second Scheduled to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act has reproduced clause (iv) of Section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act word for word. Clause (i) of Entry 4 of the Second Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act with effect from 1-4-1974 reads as follows