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" and "garlic" but their claim was rejected and that the turnover was subjected to sales tax. The petitioners filed appeals against these assessment orders. The appeals against the assessment orders for the year 1961-62, 1962-63 and 1964-65 were dismissed by the Assistant Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, Guntur. An appeal against the assessment order for the year 1964-65 was, however, allowed but only to the extent of the turnover of sales representing "green ginger" by the petitioner directly. The petitioners carried the matters in appeals to the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal in T.A. No. 861/64 (1961-62), T.A. No. 95/65 (1962-63), T.A. No. 865/65 (1963-64) and A.R. No. 193/66 (1964-65). The Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal held "green ginger" to be a "vegetable" and, therefore, exempt from tax under the aforesaid G.O., viz., G.O.Ms. No. 1091, Revenue, dated 10th June, 1957. The Tribunal, however, allowed exemption only in respect of the sales effected by the petitioners directly and refused to grant any relief in respect of the turnover which was assessed to tax in the hands of the commissioner agents. This portion of the turnover, however, does not form the subject-matter of this writ petition as separate T.R.Cs. are filed. The petitioners were thus assessed on the turnover representing the sales of "garlic" in the assessment years 1961-62 to 1964-65 whether they were directly by the petitioners or through their commission agents and assessed to a tax of Rs. 6,543.52. They paid this tax.

The petitioners in W.P. No. 3053 of 1967 are wholesale dealers in grain, garlic and other commodities carrying on their business at Guntur. They were assessed to tax of Rs. 41,212.85 for the assessment years 1957-58 to 1964-65 in respect of their turnover representing sales of "garlic" effected by them directly or through their commission agents. The petitioners paid this amount and now claim a refund on the grounds which are common to all these petitions.

The petitioners contend that "green ginger" and "garlic" are "vegetables" which are exempt from tax under G.O.Ms. No. 1091, Revenue, dated 10th June, 1957, read with section 9(1) of the Act. It is only by a subsequent amendment issued in G.O.Ms. No. 1949 dated 3rd December, 1965, that this exemption was taken away. Although the Commercial Tax Officers refused the claim of the petitioners that "green ginger" and "garlic" were exempted from tax under G.O.Ms. No. 1091, Revenue, dated 10th June, 1957, and the orders of assessment had become final so far as the petitioners were concerned, on appeal by other assessees, the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal by an order dated 6th December, 1965, in T.A. Nos. 861/64 and 95/65 held that "green ginger" was a "vegetable" and the turnovers representing the sales of "green ginger" are exe