ABHYANKAR, J. - This order will dispose of all the three Sales Tax References and the Special Civil Application under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution arising out of the same matter.

The references are at the instance of the assessee called the Sun-N- Sand Hotel The assessee is a hotelier and runs a well reputed hotel called the Sun-N-Sand Hotel at Juhu Beach in Bombay. The hotel has both a boarding and a lodging establishment. The customers who enter the hotel are informed of the charges they have to pay for lodging with different amenities and boarding according to their taste. They are also informed that service charges of 10 per cent, of the tariff and sales tax at five paise per rupee will also have to be paid.

For the three periods for which we are concerned in the Sales Tax References, viz., (1) from 1st April, 1961 to 14th December, 1962, in the first period, (2) from 15th December, 1962 to 31st March, 1963, in the second period and (3) from 1st April 1963 to 31st March, 1964, in the third period, the Sales Tax Officer while computing the gross turnover for the periods in question included service charges recovered by the assessee from the customers. The Sa