Entry tax on expressly scheduled gurakhu upheld; Tobacco Board Act did not oust the State's taxing power.

Gurakhu was held to be liable to entry tax once it was expressly included in item 41(c) of the Schedule to the Taxes on Entry of Goods into Calcutta Metropolitan Area Act, 1972 by notification dated 20 April 1979. The taxable event under the Act was the entry of a specified good for consumption, use or sale within the metropolitan area, so liability did not depend on how gurakhu was classified in common parlance or under other enactments. The Tobacco Board Act, 1975 did not divest the State of legislative competence, because it operated in a different field concerned with regulation of the tobacco industry and did not displace the State's power to levy entry tax on a scheduled commodity.

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Issues: (i) whether gurakhu was exigible to entry tax under item 41(c) of the Schedule to the Taxes on Entry of Goods into Calcutta Metropolitan Area Act, 1972 after its inclusion by notification dated 20 April 1979; (ii) whether the Tobacco Board Act, 1975 divested the State of legislative competence to levy entry tax on gurakhu.

Issue (i): whether gurakhu was exigible to entry tax under item 41(c) of the Schedule to the Taxes on Entry of Goods into Calcutta Metropolitan Area Act, 1972 after its inclusion by notification dated 20 April 1979.

Analysis: The Schedule specifically named gurakhu in item 41(c) along with tooth-paste and tooth-powder, and section 6 levied tax on entry of specified goods for consumption, use or sale within the Calcutta Metropolitan Area. Once the Legislature had expressly included gurakhu as a specified good, its liability to entry tax did not depend on whether it was understood as a tobacco product, dentifrice, or otherwise in common parlance. The taxable event under the Act was entry of a specified good, not its sale character or commercial classification under other enactments.

Conclusion: Gurakhu was exigible to entry tax under item 41(c) from 20 April 1979, and the levy was valid.

Issue (ii): whether the Tobacco Board Act, 1975 divested the State of legislative competence to levy entry tax on gurakhu.

Analysis: The Tobacco Board Act, 1975 was concerned with development and regulation of the tobacco industry, including import and export control and allied measures. Entry tax under the State enactment operated in a distinct legislative field under the State's power to levy tax on entry of goods, and had no proximate connection with regulation of the tobacco industry. The Central enactment did not displace the State's power to tax the entry of a specifically scheduled commodity into the metropolitan area.

Conclusion: The State retained legislative competence, and the Tobacco Board Act, 1975 did not bar levy of entry tax on gurakhu.

Final Conclusion: The application failed on both issues, the entry tax levy was upheld, and the requested refund and ancillary reliefs were denied.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a commodity is expressly specified in the schedule to an entry tax statute, its liability is governed by that specific inclusion and the charging provision, and a separate Central law regulating the underlying industry does not oust the State's power to levy entry tax under its distinct legislative field.

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