Best judgment assessment for container sale value upheld as a valid rule within the parent sales tax Act.

Rule 6A(2) of the Assam General Sales Tax Rules, 1993 was upheld as a valid method for determining the sale value of containers used in exempted goods. The Court held that section 7(8) of the Act authorised taxation of the express or implied sale value of such containers and permitted prescription of the manner of determination. The rule was confined to best judgment assessment where no accounts were kept, the declared price was below market value, or the supply was shown as free of cost. It was treated as implementing the charging provision, not enlarging it or creating a tax outside the parent Act.

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Issues: Whether rule 6A(2) of the Assam General Sales Tax Rules, 1993 was ultra vires section 7(8) of the Assam General Sales Tax Act, 1993 and the Constitution for permitting determination of sale value of containers used in exempted goods at 1% of the sale value of the exempted goods in specified cases.

Analysis: Section 7(8) of the Act empowered taxation of the sale value, express or implied, of containers used in selling exempted goods and authorised the prescription of the manner of determination. The rule-making provision in rule 6A(2) was read as a quantification mechanism operating where no accounts were maintained, the declared price was below market price, or the supply was shown as free of cost. The Court held that these situations justified best judgment assessment to ascertain the real sale value of containers, and that the rule did not create a tax outside the parent Act. The rule was treated as a valid implementation of the charging provision and not as an enlargement of legislative power beyond the statutory scheme.

Conclusion: rule 6A(2) was held to be valid and within the scope of section 7(8); the challenge to its vires failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A delegated rule fixing a method for determining the sale value of containers used in exempted goods is valid if it operates within the parent Act, facilitates best judgment assessment, and does not itself impose a tax beyond the statutory charging power.

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