Additional excise duty does not bar State trade tax where no express exemption exists under the sales tax law.

In the absence of an express statutory exemption, levy of additional excise duty under the Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance) Act, 1957 does not by itself bar a State from imposing trade tax on the same commodity under the applicable sales tax law. The Court distinguished precedent based on the presence of a specific exemption in the Andhra Pradesh statute and noted that the U.P. Trade Tax Act contained no comparable exemption. On that basis, the commodity remained taxable under the U.P. Trade Tax Act as applicable in Uttarakhand, and the State levy and consequential penalty were upheld.

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Issues: Whether levy of additional excise duty under the Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance) Act, 1957 barred the State from levying trade tax on the commodity in question under the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948.

Analysis: The revision challenged the penalty and taxability of the commodity on the premise that it had already suffered additional excise duty and was therefore outside the State's taxing power. The Court distinguished the relied upon precedent, noting that the Andhra Pradesh statute considered there contained an express exemption linked to the Additional Duties of Excise Act, whereas the U.P. Trade Tax Act contained no such exemption. The Court further held that the Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance) Act, 1957 did not, by itself, create any bar against the State levying trade tax or VAT on goods subjected to that levy. On the facts, the commodity remained taxable under the U.P. Trade Tax Act as applicable in Uttarakhand.

Conclusion: The contention that State trade tax was barred was rejected and the issue was decided against the revisionist.

Final Conclusion: The State's levy and the consequential penalty were upheld, and the revision was dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: In the absence of an express statutory exemption, levy of additional excise duty does not preclude the State from imposing trade tax on the same commodity under the applicable sales tax law.

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