Referable question of law found on assessment validity and Commissioner's power; export exemption issues were not referred.

The Tribunal's refusal to refer the State's proposed questions was partly incorrect because its view on the validity of the assessment order and the Commissioner's power under section 40 gave rise to a referable question of law under section 42(2) of the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973. The Court directed a reference on that issue and required the Tribunal to state the case accordingly. However, the broader questions concerning export exemption and the effect of rule 29(v) read with section 5(1) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 were not decided by the Tribunal on merits and therefore did not arise from the impugned order.

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Issues: Whether a question of law arose from the Tribunal's order for reference under section 42(2) of the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973, and whether the Tribunal was justified in holding that the assessment order dated 7 August 1981 did not suffer from illegality or impropriety and that the Commissioner was not justified in exercising powers under section 40 of that Act.

Analysis: The Tribunal had declined to refer the questions proposed by the State. On the facts, the Court found that the Tribunal's order did give rise to a referable question of law on the correctness of the Tribunal's view that the assessment order was valid and that the Commissioner could not act under section 40. However, the broader questions relating to exemption of exports and the effect of rule 29(v) and section 5(1) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 were not decided by the Tribunal on merits, and therefore those questions did not arise from the Tribunal's order.

Conclusion: The reference was directed on the identified question of law, and the Tribunal was required to state the case accordingly; the other proposed questions were declined as not arising from the order under challenge.

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