( 1 ) THESE revision petitions preferred by an assessee under S. 23 (1) of the mysore Sales Tax Act, 1957, hereinafter called the Act, relate to the assessment years 1967-68 and 1968-69. The assessee manufactures 'felt washers' which are used as components in the manufacture of 'micro filters'. During the assessment years, the assessee sold the 'felt washers' manufactured by him to M/s. Motor Industries Co. for manufacture of 'micro Filters'. Before the assessing authority the assessee claimed that on his turnover relating to sales of 'felt Washers' he is liable to pay tax only at the concessional rate provided under S. 5 (3a) of the Act, which claim was accepted by the Additional Commercial Tax Officer who passed the assessment orders.

( 2 ) HOWEVER, the Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes in exercise of the powers conferred by S. 21 (2) of the Act, revised the orders of the Additional Commercial Tax Officer and held that the assessee is not entitled to the benefit of S. 5 (3a), but is liable to pay tax at the rate provided under S. 5 (1 ). Appeals preferred by the assessee against the said orders to the Mysore Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal having been dismissed, he has preferred the above revision petitions.

( 3 ) IT was contended by Sri Sarangan, learned Counsel for the assessee that the view of the law on the basis of which the Commissioner revised the orders of the Additional Commercial Tax Officer is erroneous and that the assessee is entitled to the concessional rate of tax under S. 5 (3a ). The question for decision in these revision petitions is, whether the assessee is entitled to the benefit of S. 5 (3a) of the Act. The said sub-section reads:"5 (3a ). Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-sec. (1) or sub-sec. (3), the tax payable by a dealer in respect of any sale of goods mentioned in the Second Schedule by such dealer to a registered dealer for use by the latter as component part of any other goods mentioned in that Schedule, which he intends to manufacture inside the state for sale, shall be at the rate of two per cent or the rate specified in the Second Schedule in respect of such goods whichever is lower on the turnover relating to such sale: (Proviso omitted as unnecessary ). Explanation.-For the purpose of this sub-section, "component part" means an article which forms an identifiable constituent of the finished product and which along with others goea to make up the finished product. "s. 5 (3a) was inserted in the Act by Mysore Act 3 of 1s86; obviously it was enacted in order to encourage the setting up of ancillary industries in the state. In modern industrial countries, it is common knowledge that manufacturers of finished products do not manufacture all the component parts themselves. They purchase some of the component parts required by them from ancillary industries, e. g. , a refrigerator or a motor car consists of several component parts. A manufacturer of refrigerators or cars will not be manufacturing all the component parts, but will buy the same from manufacturers of ancillary industries.

( 4 ) UNDER the scheme of the Act, a manufacturer of component parts who sells his article of manufacture to registered dealers in the State has to satisfy two conditions in order to entitle him to the benefit of the concessional rate provided under S. 5 (3a ). They are : (1) That the component parts sold by the dealer mud be one of the goods mentioned in the Second Schedule of the Act. (2) That the sale must be to a manufacturer who also manufactures any of the goods mentioned in the said Schedule. The expression 'component part', according to the Explanation means, an article which forms an identifiable constituent of the finished product and which along with others goes to make up the finished product. In the instant case the Motor Industries Co. who purchased 'felt Washers' manufactured by the assessee are the manufacturers of 'micro Filters. It is common ground that 'micro Filters' form an identifiab

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