BALAKRISHNA ERADI, C.J.

The State of Kerala represented by the Deputy Commissioner of Sales Tax (Law), Board of Revenue (Taxes), Ernakulam, is the revision petitioner in these two connected revision petitions filed against the common order dated 28th February, 1979, passed by the Kerala Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal, Trivandrum, dismissing Tribunal Appeals Nos. 959 and 960 of 1977 filed before it by the State.

2. The assessee is M/s. Burmah Shell Oil Storage and Distributing Company Ltd., and the second appeals disposed of by the Tribunal arose out of the assessments to sales tax under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 (hereinafter called the Act), made against the assessee for the assessment years 1974-75 and 1975-76. Two questions were raised before the Tribunal by the State in these second appeals. The first question was whether the excise duty paid to the Central excise department on petroleum products purchased by the assessee was liable to be included in the taxable turnover of the assessee for the two assessment years. The second question was whether the assessee was entitled to the benefit of the concessional rate of tax at 1 per cent on the turnover relating t