Ramesh Ranganathan, J.

1. M/s. Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Hyderabad filed W.P. Nos.23034 and 22960 of 2007, W.P. No.8122 and 9016 of 2008, W.P. Nos.8006 and 15121 of 2009, W.P. No.8955 of 2010, W.P. Nos.10711 and 23689 of 2011, W.P. No.6834 of 2012, W.P. No.39431 of 2013 and W.P. No.14457 of 2014. Alstom Projects India Ltd filed W.P. Nos.4763 and 12745 of 2009, and W.P. No.26994 of 2011. M/s. Siemens Ltd, Hyderabad filed W.P. Nos.16857, 16909 and 16945 of 2009, W.P. No. 25776 of 2010, W.P. No.8664 of 2013 and W.P. No.14192 of 2014. BGR Energy Systems Ltd, Nellore filed W.P. No.19516 of 2009.

All the petitioners have executed turnkey projects for different customers. They claimed that the goods supplied by them, for being used in the turnkey projects, were subsequent sales exempt from tax under Section 6(2) of the CST Act, import sales under Section 5(2) of the CST Act, and the respondents lacked jurisdiction to subject these transactions to tax under the AP VAT Act treating them as intra-state sales. On their claim being negatived by the assessing/revisional authorities they have invoked the certiorari jurisdiction of this Court. It would suffice to note the contents of the assessment order passed in W.P. No.8006 of 2009 as illustrative of the orders impugned in these Writ Petitions.

The petitioner in W.P. No.8006 of 2009, M/s. Larsen & Toubro Ltd, is a company registered under the Companies Act with its registered office at Mumbai. It has various branches, among others, at Hyderabad also. It is engaged in the execution of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Works Contracts on a turnkey basis, and is a registered dealer both under the AP VAT Act and the CST Act. For the tax period 01.04.2005 to 31.03.2006, the petitioner claimed exemption on a turnover of Rs.373,28,65,393 as sales effected in the course of inter-state trade and commerce under Section 6(2) of the CST Act, and sales in the course of import under Section 5(2) of the CST Act. The exemption claimed by the petitioner related to six contracts awarded in their favour by Konaseema EPS Oakwell Power Ltd (hereinafter referred to as Konaseema) and Vemagiri Power Generation Limited (hereinafter referred to Vemagiri).

In the assessment order dated 12.03.2009, the assessing authority noted that the petitioner (Larson & Toubro) had, during the financial year 2005-06, entered into six supply contracts, two of which were with Konaseema and Vemagiri; placing reliance on certain clauses in the agreement, the petitioner had stated that they were required to deliver the goods as agreed upon mutually, and the contractees had also agreed to provide necessary certificates/forms for claiming tax exemption; the goods involved were subjected to pre-despatch inspection, and testing of the equipment by the contractee i.e. Konaseema; in the light of these terms and conditions, they had arranged the transactions by way of a sale falling under Section 3(b) r/w. Section 6(2) of the CST Act claiming exemption towards sale in transit in the case of Konaseema, and as a sale falling under Section 3 of the CST Act or sale in the course of import in the case of Vemagiri; with regards transit-sales, they had contended that, while the goods were in the course of inter-state movement, the documents of title to the goods were transferred in favour of Konaseema which, in turn, took delivery of the goods; with regards import sales, they claimed to have placed orders on approved dealers outside the country; while the goods were consigned to them, the bills of lading ie, the documents of title to the goods were endorsed in favour of Vemagiri which, in turn, had cleared the goods from customs paying all the duties; they had filed specimen copies of the documents such as copies of the bills issued by the ex-state seller, foreign seller, copies of LR/bill of lading, copies of the bills raised by the petitioner, customs clearance documents etc; and they contended that these transactions were in the