TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1969 (7) TMI 86
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....f 1969, Civil Appeal No. 538 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 539 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 540 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 541 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 542 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 543 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 544 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 545 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 546 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 547 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 548 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 549 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 550 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 551 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 552 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 553 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 554 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 555 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 556 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 557 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 558 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 559 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 560 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 561 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 562 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 563 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 564 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 565 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 566 of 1969, Civil Appeal No. 567 of 1969 decided on July 17, 1969 M.S. Sethu and A.V.V. Nair, Advocates, for the appellants in C.As. Nos. 281 and 363 of 1969. S. Mohan and A.V. Rangam, Advocates, for the respondents in C.As. Nos. 284, 363, 383 to 393 and 513 to 567 of 1969. K. Jayaram and T.S. Vishwanat....
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.... Turnover from sale of jaggery-cane or palm-was subject to tax under section 3(1) of the Madras Act 9 of 1939 at three pies per rupee. By G.O. 651 dated February 28, 1955, and G.O. 2780 dated September 7, 1955, all sales of "palm jaggery" effected through co-operative societies and the Palm Gur Federation were exempted from tax. By another G.O. No. 1605 dated April 19, 1956, all transactions of sale in "palm jaggery" were exempted from sales tax with effect from April 1, 1956. Transactions of sale in "cane jaggery" therefore continued to remain liable to tax whereas sales of "palm jaggery" enjoyed the benefit of exemption from tax. After the judgment of this court in Bengal Immunity Co. Ltd. v. State of Bihar [1955] 6 S.T.C. 446; [1955] 2 S.C.R. 603., the Parliament amended article 286 and entry 54 in List II of the Seventh Schedule and added a new entry, entry 92A in List I in the Seventh Schedule by the Constitution (Sixth Amendment) Act. In exercise of the power under entry 92A, List I, the Parliament enacted the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (74 of 1956). By Chapter IV of that Act the power reserved under the amended article 286, clause (3), was exercised by the Parliament,....
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.... on April 15, 1958, G.O. No. 1457 exempting all sales of "cane jaggery" from tax with effect from April 1, 1958. Transactions of sale of "palm jaggery" were therefore exempt partially from sales tax from February 28, 1955, and wholly from April 1, 1956, and transactions of sale of "cane jaggery" were exempt from tax from April 1, 1958. The State Legislature enacted the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959 (1 of 1959), with effect from April 1, 1959. By section 3 every dealer whose total turnover was not less than Rs. 10,000 became liable to pay tax for each year at the rate of 2 per cent. of his taxable turnover. By section 8 it was provided that subject to such restrictions and conditions as may be prescribed, a dealer who deals in goods specified in the Third Schedule shall not be liable to pay any tax under the Act in respect of such goods. Item 5 in the Third Schedule was "sugar including jaggery and gur". Section 17 of that Act authorised the State Government by notification to exempt or to make reduction in rate in respect of any tax payable under the Act on the sale or purchase of any specified goods or class of goods at all points or specified points in respect of sales by....
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....e section 8 read with the Third Schedule as amended by Madras Act 2 of 1968 exempts only "sugar" from liability to tax, sales of jaggery, cane and palm, now fall within the charging section. But the Government of Madras have in exercise of power under section 17 of Act 1 of 1959 exempted transactions of sale of "palm jaggery" from tax. It is true that between April 1, 1958, and October 31, 1967, transactions of sale of "cane jaggery" and "palm jaggery" were exempt from liability to pay sales tax under the Madras General Sales Tax Acts of 1939 and 1959, but it cannot be inferred therefrom that the Legislature treated "palm jaggery" and "cane jaggery" as the "same commodity". For nearly three years before April 1, 1958, sales of "palm jaggery" were exempt from tax but sales of "cane jaggery" were not. The evidence on the record clearly shows that "cane jaggery" and "palm jaggery" are commercially different commodities. "Cane jaggery" is produced from the juice of sugarcane; "palm jaggery" is produced from the juice of the palm tree. Mr. Raghupathy, Deputy Secretary to the Government of Madras (Commercial Taxes) has stated in his affidavit that "palm jaggery" industry comes under t....