DESHPANDE, J.

The decision of this and the connected six writ petitions depends on the construction of section 5(2)(a)(ii) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941, as applied to Delhi (hereinafter called the Act) reproduced below :

"5. (1) The tax payable by a dealer under this Act shall be levied (on taxable turnover)......

(2) In this Act the expression 'taxable turnover' means that part of a dealer's gross turnover during any period which remains after deducting therefrom -

(a) his turnover during that period on......

(ii) sales to a registered dealer

of goods of the class or classes specified in the certificate of registration of such dealer, as being intended for resale by him, or for use by him as raw materials in the manufacture of goods for sale; and

of containers or other materials for the packing of goods of the class or classes so specified for sale :

Provided that in the case of such sales a declaration duly filled up and signed by the registered dealer to whom the goods are sold and containing the prescribed particulars on a prescribed form obtainable from the prescribed authority is furnished in the prescribed manner by the dealer who sells the goods :

Provided further that where any goods specified in the certificate of registration are purchased by a registered dealer as being intended for resale by him or for use by him as raw materials in the manufacture of goods for sale, but are utilised by him for any other purpose, the price of the goods so purchased shall be allowed to be deducted from the gross turnover of the selling dealer but shall be included in the taxable turnover of the purchasing dealer."

All the petitioner are registered dealers. Those in C.Ws. 590 of 1973, 1549 of 1973 and 894 of 1973 purchased goods specified in their registration certificates as being intended for resale by them. The others in C.Ws. 147 of 1974, 111 of 1974, 947 of 1973 and 1426 of 1973 purchased goods specified in their registration certificates for use by them in the manufacture of goods for sale. But the actual resales and the post-manufacture sales by them took place outside Delhi. The Financial Commissioner, acting for the Chief Commissioner under section 20(3) of the Act in revising the assessment of M/s. Fitwell Engineers for the year 1969-70, held on 26th April, 1973, that the resale as well as the post-manufacture sale of goods by the registered dealers who had purchased goods free from sales tax under section 5(2)(a)(ii) had to be in Delhi. If the resale or the post-manufacture sale is made outside Delhi, them the conduct of the registered dealers would attract the second proviso to section 5(2)(a)(ii). As they utilised the goods "for any other purpose" the price of the goods purchased tax-free by them would be included in their taxable turnover even though it had been already deducted from the gross turnover of the selling dealers and was not included in the taxable turnover of the selling dealers. This decision was followed by the sales tax authorities in the assessment proceedings of the other petitioners also. This action of the sales tax authorities under the second proviso to section 5(2)(a)(ii) is being challenged in these writ petitions.

The ground of challenge urged by the counsel for the petitioners may be summed up as below :

(1) The words "for resale" and "for sale" are used in section 5(2)(a)(ii) without qualification. The resale or the sale by the registered dealers after purchasing goods tax-free could, therefore, be in or outside Delhi. There was no warrant to read by implication the words "in Delhi" after the words "for resale" and "for sale".

(2) The words "sale" and "turnover" defined in sections 2(g) and 2(i) are also not confined to sales in Delhi but could include sales outside Delhi.

(3) Even though the registration of a dealer under sections 7, 8, 8B and 8C is confined to Delhi by the registration certificate issued thereunder, the undertaking given by the purchasing registered