Surcharge computation under sales tax law excludes prior entry tax set-off, with Tribunal's contrary view rejected.

Surcharge under Section 5A of the Orissa Sales Tax Act is to be computed on the tax payable under that Act without first reducing entry tax paid under the Orissa Entry Tax Act. The Orissa HC treated the issue as controlled by the Supreme Court decision relied on by the Court and rejected the Tribunal's approach permitting deduction of entry tax before calculating surcharge. The Tribunal's order was therefore set aside, and the matter was remitted to the Assessing Officer for fresh computation on the basis that entry tax set-off is not applied before surcharge is levied.

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Issues: Whether surcharge under Section 5A of the Orissa Sales Tax Act is to be levied before deducting entry tax paid under the Orissa Entry Tax Act, and whether the Tribunal was justified in directing such set-off while computing the surcharge.

Analysis: The controversy was held to be covered by the Supreme Court decision relied upon by the Court, leaving no room for a different approach on the computation of surcharge. On that basis, surcharge under Section 5A was held to be leviable on the tax payable under the Orissa Sales Tax Act without first reducing the entry tax paid by the dealer. The Tribunal's view allowing deduction of entry tax before surcharge was therefore inconsistent with the controlling legal position.

Conclusion: The questions were answered in favour of the Department and against the dealer. The Tribunal's order was set aside and the matter was remitted to the Assessing Officer for fresh computation in accordance with the above holding.

Final Conclusion: The legal position on surcharge computation was settled against the assessee, and the assessment demand was directed to be recomputed on that basis.

Ratio Decidendi: Surcharge under Section 5A of the Orissa Sales Tax Act is to be computed on the tax payable under that Act without first setting off entry tax paid under the Orissa Entry Tax Act.

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