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2002 Supreme(Raj) 1013

High Court Of Rajasthan
Judgename : N.N. Mathur,H.R. Panwar
Guljag Industries Limited - Appellant
Versus
State of Rajasthan - Respondent
D.B. Civil Special Appeal Nos. 907, 933 and 938 of 2000
Decided On : 08/30/2002

Advocates Appeared:
P. Chidambaram, Senior Advocate, Rajendra Mehta, Pallav Shishodia, G. Maheshwari and R.K. Purohit,
for the Appellant
Sangeet Lodha and Suman Porwal, for the Respondents

The main legal point established in the judgment is that the taxation by the State on inter-State sales would be ultra vires and in violation of fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.

Headnote:

Rajasthan Sales Tax Act - Inter-State Sales - Section 3(b), Section 6(2) of the CST Act - 92A of List I of the Seventh Schedule - Article 286 of the Constitution of India

Fact of the Case:

The appellant challenged the demand under Section 29 of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1994, for treating inter-State sales as local sales and imposing tax at 4 per cent. The appellant contended that the subsequent inter-State sales satisfied the conditions of Section 6(2) and Section 3(b) of the CST Act and were exempt from tax under the RST Act. The court was to determine the scope and interpretation of Section 3(b) and Section 6(2) of the CST Act and the powers of the assessing authority in that regard.

Finding of the Court:

The court found that the learned single Judge dismissed the writ petition without considering the facts and contentions, indicating a prima facie case for exemption under the CST Act. The court held that the dismissal on the ground of availability of alternate remedy was not justified.

Issues: The issues involved the interpretation of Section 3(b) and Section 6(2) of the CST Act, the jurisdiction of the assessing authority, and the availability of alternate remedy.

Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized that the taxation by the State on inter-State sales would be ultra vires and in violation of fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. It highlighted the principles for determining inter-State sales under Section 3(b) and the liability to tax under Section 6 of the CST Act.

Final Decision: The court held that the dismissal of the writ petition on the ground of availability of alternate remedy was not justified and that the case involved an arguable question regarding the authority to impose RST on the sales. The court allowed the appeals and set aside the judgment of the learned single Judge.

Judgment

N.N. Mathur, J.-These three special appeals are directed against the Judgment of the learned single Judge dismissing the writ petitions on the ground of availability of alternate remedy and relegating the appellant to a statutory remedy under the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1994. The appeals involve common questions of law and, as such, are disposed of by a common Judgment .

2. By three different petitions, for the assessment years 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98, the appellants challenged the authority of the Assistant Commissioner, Special Circle-Il, Commercial Taxes Department, Jodhpur, making a demand under Section 29 of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1994, hereinafter referred to as “the RST Act”, by treating the inter-State sales of goods effected in terms of Section 3(b) and Section 6(2) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, hereinafter referred to as “the CST Act” as a local sale and thereby imposing tax at the rate of 4 per cent under the RST Act.

.3. The appellant, a public limited company having its registered office at Jodhpur with branches at different places in the State of Rajasthan, is engaged in the business of buying and selling chemicals, namely, methanol, chlorine, caustic soda lye, soda ash, hydrochloric acid, etc. It is averred that the appellant purchases the aforesaid chemicals in the course of inter-State trade from manufacturers/suppliers from Gujarat and effects subsequent inter-State sales to various buyers in the State of Rajasthan including SRF Ltd., Bhiwadi, by transfer of the documents of title to the goods, i.e., by endorsing goods receipts/bilties during their movement from Gujarat to Rajasthan. According to the appellant, these transit sales are duly supported by “C” forms from the purchasing dealers in Rajasthan and also forms E-I from the seller outside Rajasthan from whom the appellant has purchased the goods in the course of inter-State trade on “C” forms after paying 4 per cent CST. In the case of subsequent inter-State sales effected to SRF Ltd., Bhiwadi, the chemicals have been booked with the transporter by the appellant’s Gujarat supplier for the destination Bhiwadi for being delivered to SRF Ltd., on the instructidns and on account of the appellant. It is asserted by the appellant that in respect of all transactions in question, it is not in dispute that the appellant did not take physical/actual delivery of the goods at any time during the course of inter-State movement and that the transporter had given delivery to the ultimate buyers in whose favour goods receipts/bilties were endorsed by the appellant. The said goods merely passed through the areas where the appellant’s branches/head office are located and they were carried to the destination of the subsequent buyers in that very vehicle in which they were brought from Gujarat by the same transporter. The case of the respondents as set up in the impugned notice is that on account of the entries of the said sales made by the appellant in the daily sales report, preparation of invoices and delivery challans in respect of the said sales, it must be presumed that the appellant took symbolic/notional/constructive delivery of the goods which terminated their inter-State movement and the sales effected thereafter were “intra-State sales” of such goods to the buyers in Rajasthan oh which local tax is leviable. Thus, the question raised before the learned single Judge was with respect to the scope and interpretation of Section 3(b) and Section 6(2) of the CST Act and powers of the assessing authority in that regard. According to the appellant, Section 3(b) contemplates inter-State sales effected by transfer of documents of the title to the goods during their movement from one State to another and Explanation I appended thereunder provides that inter-State movement of goods commences from time the goods are handed over by the seller to the carrier or other bailee for transmission to the ex-State destination and such movement continues up t









































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