Purchase tax on dry bones converted into bone-meal rejected where earlier interpretation was left undisturbed.

A purchaser who bought dry bones and converted them into bone-meal for sale was held not liable to purchase tax under section 5A(1) of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963. The Court treated the issue as controlled by an earlier decision that had reached the same construction and noted that special leave petitions against that view had been dismissed. Following that settled position, it declined to depart from the earlier interpretation and affirmed that no purchase tax arose on these facts.

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Issues: Whether the assessee, who purchased dry bones and converted them into bone-meal for sale in the market, was liable to pay purchase tax under section 5A(1) of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963.

Analysis: The issue was treated as covered by an earlier decision which had held that a purchaser converting dry bones into bone-meal for sale was not liable to purchase tax. The Court noted that the earlier view had been left undisturbed when special leave petitions against it were dismissed, and declined to depart from that position.

Conclusion: The assessee was not liable to purchase tax under section 5A(1) on these facts, and the issue was decided in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an earlier decision directly governs the taxability of a transaction and has been allowed to stand, the same construction should be followed, and no purchase tax liability arises on conversion of dry bones into bone-meal for sale.

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