Printed account books are taxable as classified items at 8% under Entries 97 and 97B of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act.

1This revision is at the instance of the assessee. The assessment year concerned is 1986-87. The assessee is a Cooperative Printing Press, inter alia, engaged in the manufacture and sale of printed Account Books and Registers. In the assessment year concerned, the assessee contended before the assessing authority that printed Account Books and Registers are stationery items exigible to tax only at the rate of 5 percent as they are unclassified items. The assessing authority took the stand that these two items will fall under Entry 97B of the First Schedule to the Kerala General Sales Tax Act as it stood at the relevant time. In appeal, the first appellate authority considered both items with reference to Entries 97 and 97B of the First Schedule to the said Act as they stood at the relevant time and took the view that the two items will not fall under any of the said two entries and held that it is liable to be assessed only as unclassified items exigible to tax at 5 per cent. On appeal by the State, the Tribunal, relying on the decision of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in M. P. State Cooperative Press Ltd. v. Additional Commissioner of S. T. (M.P.) (1988 (68) STC 245) held that the two items fall under Entry 97B of the First Schedule to the Act and accordingly set aside the order of the first appellate authority and sustained the assessment order.

2 Learned Counsel for the assessee submits that the assessee is only a printing press which undertakes job works and that at any rate, the two items in question being only stationery items which are unclassified items are liable to tax only at the general rate of 5 per cent. He also submits that printing in the Account Books and the Registers are only minimal and therefore it cannot be called as printed material. The learned Government Pleader for the State, on the other hand, submits that the two items squarely fall under Entry 97B of the First Schedule or in any case under Entry 97.

3 In order to test the correctness of the contesting claims it is necessary to refer to the relevant entries in the First Schedule to the Act which are extracted hereunder.

It is pertinent to note that Entry 97B specifically excludes journals and books meant for reading. Thus Entry 97B relates to all other printed materials whether they are meant for reading or not. The words 'meant for reading" qualifies only 'journals and books'. In other words the said words do not qualify 'printed materials'. It is not as if all journals and books are excluded from Entry 97B. In other words even printed books and journals not meant for reading of the nature we are concerned will fall under the entry. In the instant case admittedly there are printings in the Account Books and Registers which will not fall under the excluded category. In order to name them as account books and registers the required details are to be printed in the said books. Without the details printed in the Account Books and Registers the purchasers will not be able to use those account books and registers for their purpose. Account books and registers without any printing will not fall under Entry 97 B. Such books and registers however will fall under Entry 97 "Paper (other than news print), card boards and their products". Thus looked at from any angle this printed account books and registers sold by the assessee will fall under any of the two Entries, viz., 97 and 97B exigible to tax at 8 per cent.

4 In this context, it is relevant to note that the Tribunal had relied on a decision of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in M. P. State Cooperative Press Ltd. v. Additional Commissioner of S.T. (M.P.) (1988 (68) STC 245) which is directly on the point. In that case the assessee, a Cooperative Printing Press contended that since the assessee had only carried out job works in printing items such as printed registers for banks and Cooperative Societies on specifications provided by the customers it was only a case of works contract. The Madhya Pradesh High Cou