Concessional sales tax for selected electronic goods upheld; unlisted musical door bell remained outside the notification.

A concessional sales tax notification granting reduced rates to selected electronic goods applied only to items specifically included in its Schedule. An electronic musical door bell, not being listed, could not claim the benefit merely because similar goods were later added under a subsequent notification. The exclusion was not shown to be arbitrary or discriminatory, since the notification reflected a policy choice to confine the concession to selected items. A dealer is entitled to exemption or concession only when the notification's conditions are strictly satisfied, and the exclusion was held not violative of Article 14.

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Issues: Whether electronic musical door bell, though not included in the Schedule to S.R.O. No. 748/89, was entitled to concessional rate of tax, and whether its exclusion was discriminatory and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

Analysis: The concessional notification under section 10 of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 was framed to grant a reduced rate only to selected electronic goods, unlike the earlier notification which applied more generally. Musical door bell was not one of the items specifically included in the Schedule, and a dealer can claim exemption or concession only if the conditions of the notification are satisfied. The exclusion was not shown to be arbitrary, particularly when the notification itself reflected a policy choice to confer benefit only on selected items; later inclusion of similar goods in a subsequent notification did not make the earlier omission unconstitutional or inadvertent.

Conclusion: The item was not entitled to the concessional rate under S.R.O. No. 748/89, and the exclusion was not violative of Article 14. The revision petition was therefore liable to fail.

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