The judgment of the court was delivered by

MADHAVA REDDY, J. - In these three writ petitions, refund of sales tax recovered by the respondents under the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act is claimed by the petitioners on the ground that the same was paid under a mistake of law.

Writ Petitions Nos. 1426 of 1967 and 1427 of 1967 are by a firm of dealers in "green ginger", "garlic" and other commodities carrying on business at Tenali, Guntur district. They claimed exemption in respect of the turnover on 'green ginger' and "garlic" on the ground that they were "vegetables" and, therefore, exempt from tax under G.O.Ms. No. 1091, Revenue, dated 10th June, 1957. They were, however, assessed to tax on their turnover of "green ginger" and "garlic" for the assessment years 1957-58 to 1960-61, by the Commercial Tax Officer. The petitioner did not choose to prefer any appeal and the assessment orders became final. The petitioners paid a total tax of Rs. 41,260.61 for those assessment years. W.P. No. 1426 of 1967 is for the refund of this tax.

For the assessment years 1961-62 to 1964-65, the petitioners claim exemption on the same grounds in respect of their turnover of "green ginger"