H. L. DATTU, C.J. –

In all these sales tax revisions, the one and only question that arises for our consideration and decision is, whether the royalty income received by the assessee from the franchisees for the use of the trade mark is exigible to tax under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 ("the KGST Act", for short) in the hands of the assessee. The other question is whether, in the facts and circumstances of the present case, can it be said that there exists the concept of "goods", "turnover" and "taxable turnover" with reference to the receipt of royalty by the assessee from its franchisees ?

The questions of law raised by the assessee in these revision petitions are no more debatable in view of what has been stated by this Court in the case of Mechanical Assembly Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd. v. State of Kerala [2006] 144 STC 536. In the said decision, the court was pleased to observe as under :

"The traditional meaning of the word 'goods' has undergone radical change due to technological and scientific developments. Reference may also be made to a recent decision of the apex Court in Tata Consultancy Services v. State of Andhra Pradesh [2004] 137 STC 620; [2005] 13 KTR