Judgment

THAKKAR, J.: - In a batch of Writ Petitions and T.R.C. cases before the High Court the question raised in substance was formulated as under :-

"The question, therefore, that arises in both these cases, is whether the amount collected by the seller from the buyer which comprises of the two components the actual sale price and the sales tax is a part of the "turnover" and comes within the expression "any other sum charged by the dealer whatever be the description, name or object thereof" occurring in the definition in S. 2(s)*1 of the Act. In the former case it is shown expressly as sales tax and in the latter case it is shown in the form of debit notes. But in both the cases it is collected by the seller from the buyer at the time of the sale or rather as a condition of sale."

*1. Section 2(s) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 "turn over means the total amount set out in the bill of sale or if there is no bill of sale, the total amount charged as the consideration for the sale or purchase of goods whether such consideration be cash, deferred payment or any other thing of value including any sums charged by the dealer for anything, done in respect of goods sold at the time or before the delivery to the goods and any other sums charged by the dealer, whatever be the description, name, object thereof :

Provided that in the case of a sale by a person whether by himself or through an agent of agricultural or horticultural produce grown by himself or grown on any land in which he has an interest whether as owner, usufructuary mortgagee, tenant or otherwise the amount of the consideration relating to such sale shall be excluded from his turnover when such produce-is sold in the form in which it was produced. without being subjected to any physical, chemical or other process for being made fit for consumption save mere cleaning, grading or sorting.

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2. The High Court repulsed the plea of the assessees that the amount of sales tax so collected from the buyers was not includible in the turn over for the purposes of computing the sales tax liability of the assessees. The concerned assessees have approached -thisCourt by way of the present group of appeals by special leave.

3. Sales tax is levied under the authority of S. 5 and S. 5-A on the turn over of a dealer. The expression turn over has been defined by S. 2(s) inter alia to include the total amount set out in the bill of sale or the total amount charged as consideration for the sale or purchase of goods whether such sales includes any other sum charged by the dealer whatever be the description, name or object thereof. Whether or not sales tax collected by the dealers from the buyers would fall under the inclusive part of aforesaid definition is the question raised in these appeals. It has arisen in the context of two categories of cases, namely

i) wherein the sales tax has been separately set out in the bill of sale and is collected by the seller at the time of sale immediately after or at the time of delivery of the goods

ii) wherein the sales tax is not mentioned in the bill at all but simultaneously collected with the delivery of the goods separately under debit notes whereby the exact amount of sales tax due is collected from the purchaser by the seller but the said amount is kept in the suspense account.

4. The submissions which were unsuccessfully urged before the High Court and are reiterated before us on behalf of the assessees are :

1. That where the amount is collected specifically as tax, it cannot be deemed to be a part of the consideration for the sale of the goods and as such it cannot form part of the turn over within the meaning of S. 2(s) of the Act.

2. Inasmuch as the Act does not prohibit the dealer to pass on the sales tax component of the sale price to the purchaser. the dealer should be deemed to be an agent of the Government for collecting the sales tax amount.

5. In repelling the aforesaid c