These are two connected Revisions preferred against the orders made by the learned Additional First Class Magistrate, Salem, in C.C. Nos. 663 and 664 of 1957 on his file.

The petitioners have been charged for contravention of section 15 (2) (a) of the Madras General Sales Tax Act in that they, dealers in coir and ropes, have wilfully submitted an incomplete and incorrect (and therefore an untrue) return in Form A for the years 1947-48 and 1948-1949. The accused denied the offence, when questioned under section 242, Criminal Procedure Code. They raised four preliminary objections, viz., (1) that it is not alleged, in conformity with clause (c) of section 15 as it stands at present, that the accused had fraudulently evaded the payment of the tax or the compounding fee ; (2) that there is already a compounding order under section 16 of the Act and that this bars a prosecution for the same offence ; (3) that rule 13 of the Madras General Sales Tax (Turnover and Assessment) Rules should be held to be not validly brought into force following a recent Full Bench decision of the Andhra High Court reported in Notes of Recent Cases (1957) 2 An. W. R. {State of Andhra Pradesh v. M. A. Abd