General State tax exemption for a class of dealers can extend to inter-State sales without a separate CST notification.

A State exemption granted to roller flour mills for sales of wheat and wheat products was treated as a general exemption because it applied to a class of dealers without specified conditions or circumstances. On that footing, the Explanation to section 8(2-A) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 did not exclude the notification, and the exemption operated for inter-State sales without a separate CST notification. The revisional order was set aside and the State exemption restored, giving the assessee relief.

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Issues: Whether G.O. Ms. No. 377 granting exemption to roller flour mills on sale or purchase of wheat and wheat products within the State constituted a general exemption so as to attract section 8(2-A) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 and dispense with a separate notification under that Act for inter-State sales.

Analysis: The exemption was issued under section 9(1) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 in favour of a specified class of dealers, namely roller flour mills, and did not impose any specific conditions or restrictions under section 9(2). An exemption confined to a class of persons is not, by that reason alone, a conditional exemption; the Explanation to section 8(2-A) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 excludes only exemptions operating in specified circumstances or under specified conditions. The notification in question applied generally to all roller flour mills for the specified goods and period, and therefore answered the description of goods exempt from tax generally under the State law. In that situation, section 8(2-A) operated by itself, and no separate notification under the Central Sales Tax Act was required.

Conclusion: The exemption was held to be a general exemption, and the benefit under section 8(2-A) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 was available to the inter-State transactions.

Final Conclusion: The revisional order was set aside and the exemption granted under the State notification was restored, resulting in relief to the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a State notification grants exemption generally to a class of goods or dealers without attaching specified conditions or circumstances, the exemption is treated as general for purposes of section 8(2-A) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 and extends to inter-State sales without a separate CST notification.

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