Ultra vires sales tax recovery provision quashed where collected amounts were directed to be paid under an unconstitutional levy.

Section 5(c) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, which required amounts collected by a dealer from purchasers to be paid to the Government, was treated as beyond the State Legislature's competence under entry 54 of List II and not sustainable as an incidental or ancillary measure. The provision was therefore ultra vires, and the assessment order relying on it was illegal to that extent. Relief by mandamus was considered inappropriate because no enforceable statutory duty arose, but the impugned portion of the assessment order was amenable to certiorari and was quashed.

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Issues: Whether section 5(c) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, under which amounts collected by the dealer from purchasers were directed to be paid to the Government, was constitutionally valid and whether that portion of the assessment order could be quashed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Analysis: Section 5(c) was treated as materially similar to the provision previously considered by the Supreme Court in relation to the Hyderabad General Sales Tax Act. The provision was held to be beyond the State Legislature's competence under entry 54 of List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India, and not saved as an incidental or ancillary provision. Since the statutory basis for the recovery was ultra vires, the assessment order to that extent was illegal. Mandamus was considered inappropriate because no statutory duty could be enforced in the circumstances, but the impugned portion of the assessment order was amenable to certiorari.

Conclusion: Section 5(c) was held ultra vires and the assessment order, insofar as it directed recovery of the collected amount from the petitioner, was quashed by writ of certiorari.

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