Sales tax exemption for medicinal and toilet preparations upheld where prohibition law permitted duty on the goods.

Section 4 of the General Sales Tax Act, 1125 excluded goods on which duty was or could be levied under the specified abkari and prohibition laws. The Travancore-Cochin Prohibition Act, 1950 defined liquor broadly and authorised excise or countervailing duty on liquors and intoxicating drugs. Medicinal and toilet preparations were treated as goods falling within that duty-bearing class, so their turnover came within the statutory exclusion from sales tax. The Appellate Tribunal's view was therefore affirmed, and the turnover was held not liable to sales tax.

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Issues: Whether the turnover relating to the sale of medicinal and toilet preparations was exempt from sales tax under section 4 of the General Sales Tax Act, 1125.

Analysis: Section 4 of the General Sales Tax Act, 1125 excludes from its operation goods on which duty is or may be levied under the specified abkari and prohibition laws. The Travancore-Cochin Prohibition Act, 1950 defines liquor broadly and authorises levy of excise or countervailing duty on liquors and intoxicating drugs. On that basis, medicinal and toilet preparations fell within the class of goods on which duty could be imposed under that Act, bringing them within the statutory exclusion from sales tax.

Conclusion: The turnover relating to the sale of medicinal and toilet preparations was not liable to sales tax, and the decision of the Appellate Tribunal was correctly affirmed.

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