Statutory tax concession cannot be curtailed by circular; blanket refusal of G forms for beedi leaves was ultra vires.

A circular issued by the Commercial Taxes Department could not direct rejection of G forms for sale of beedi leaves so as to deny the concessional rate under section 5-B of the A.P. General Sales Tax Act, 1957. The Act granted the concession where goods were sold for use as raw material in manufacture, subject to a prescribed G form declaration, and an executive instruction could not override that statutory entitlement. Suspected misuse or false declarations had to be dealt with through the statutory machinery, not by a blanket ban. The circular was therefore illegal and ultra vires to that extent, and G forms had to be accepted if otherwise in order.

---

---

Issues: Whether a circular issued by the Commercial Taxes Department could direct that G forms be not accepted for sale of beedi leaves, thereby denying the concessional rate under section 5-B of the A.P. General Sales Tax Act, 1957.

Analysis: Section 5-B grants concessional tax where goods are sold for use as raw material in manufacture, subject to the prescribed declaration in G form. The impugned circular imposed a blanket prohibition on acceptance of G forms on the basis of suspected misuse. Such an omnibus instruction could not override the statutory entitlement created by the Act. The law already provided means to deal with false declarations and fraudulent conduct, so a general ban on G forms was unwarranted and beyond the Commissioner's authority.

Conclusion: The circular, to the extent it barred acceptance of G forms for beedi leaves, was illegal and ultra vires, and the petitioners were entitled to have G forms accepted if otherwise in order.

Final Conclusion: The statutory concession under section 5-B could not be curtailed by an executive circular, and the writ petitions were allowed with ancillary directions to secure the revenue interest through bank guarantees.

Ratio Decidendi: An administrative circular cannot impose a blanket denial of a concession expressly granted by statute, and any suspected misuse must be addressed through the statutory machinery rather than by overriding the provision itself.

---