Judgment

B.P. JEEVAN REDDY, J.

(1) THESE petitions are filed by the Commissioner of Sales Tax, Jammu & Kashmir and others seeking the review of this courts judgment and order dated 16/1/1992 (Pine Chemicals Ltd. v. Assessing Authority). The matter arose under the Jammu & Kashmir General Sales Tax Act and the central Sales Tax Act. By the aforesaid judgment, this court allowed the appeals preferred by the dealers setting aside the judgment of the Jammu and Kashmir High court.

THE judgment under review dealt with and pronounced upon four submissions. It held:

(1 Notwithstanding the fact that the government Order No. 159-Ind. dated 26/3/1971 does not invoke or refer to Section 5 of the Jammu & Kashmir General Sales Tax Act, and notwithstanding the defect, if any, in the form, it is and must be understood as an order granting exemption under and with reference to Section 5 of the said Act.

(2 That the said government Order is effective by itself. It did not require any other or further order to make it effective and enforceable.

(3 SRO No. 448 dated 22/10/1982 did not have the effect of superseding the aforesaid exemption notification.

(4 The dealers-assessees are entitled to claim the benefit of the provision contained in Ss. (2-A) of Section 8 of the central Sales Tax Act in view of the exemption granted to them under government Order No. 159.

(2) THOUGH the learned counsel for the review petitioners sought to impugn the correctness of all the four findings in the judgment, we did not allow him to do so and restricted him only to the fourth submission. This we did for the reasons to be recorded hereinafter. We shall, therefore, confine our discussion only to the said aspect.

(3) SECTION 8 of the central Sales Tax Act deals with the rate of tax. Sub- section (2-A), relevant for our purposes, reads thus :

"8. (2-A) Notwithstanding anything contained in Ss. (1-A) of Section 6 or in Ss. (1 or clause (b) of Ss. (2 of this section, the tax payable under this Act by a dealer on his turnover insofar as the turnover or any part thereof relates to the sale of any goods, the sale or, as the case may be, the purchase of which is, under the sales tax law of the appropriate State, exempt from tax generally or subject to tax generally at a rate which is lower than four per cent (whether called a tax or fee or by any other name), shall be nil or, as the case may be, shall be calculated at the lower rate.

EXPLANATION. For the purposes of this Ss. a sale or purchase of any goods shall not be deemed to be exempt from tax generally under the sales tax law of the appropriate State if under that law the sale or purchase of such goods is exempt only in specified circumstances or under specified conditions or the tax is levied on the sale or purchase of such goods at specified stages or otherwise than with reference to the turnover of the goods."

(4) A reading of the Ss. yields the following features :

(A) The Ss. opens with a non obstante clause which gives an overriding effect to the rule contained therein over the provisions contained in Ss. (1-A) of Section 6 and in Ss. (1 of Section 8 itself;

(B) Where the turnover (or any part thereof) of a dealer relates to the sale of any goods, the sale or purchase of which is under the sales tax law of the appropriate State exempt from tax generally or is taxable at a rate lower than four per cent;

(C) The central sales tax shall equally be exempt or shall be charged at such lower rate, as the case may be;

(D) The explanation which defines the expression generally occurring in the Ss. clarifies that a sale or purchase of any goods shall not be deemed to be exempt from tax generally under the State sales tax law if under such law (i) the sale or purchase of such goods is exempt only in specified circumstances or under specified conditions or (ii) the tax is levied on the sale or purchase of such goods at specified stages o