TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1971 (11) TMI 141
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....ate, for the respondent in C.A.. No. 148 of 1971. -------------------------------------------------- The judgment of the court was delivered by GROVER, J.-These appeals by special leave from a judgment of the Madras High Court involve a common question. The facts in the first of these appeals may be stated. The assessee, who is the respondent herein, is a spinning mill manufacturing cotton yarn. It was assessed to sales tax under the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959, hereinafter called the "Act". For the assessment year 1960-61 the assessing authority included in the taxable turnover certain amounts representing the sale value of foodgrains and groceries sold in the fair price shop run by the mills and the amount ....
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....olly immaterial because the assessee never intended to run the fair price shop as a business having an element of commercial activity. Section 2 of the Act gives the definitions. The definitions of "business" given in clause (d), of "dealer" as given in clause (g) and of "sale" as given in clause (n) are reproduced below: "(d) 'business' includes any trade, commerce or manufacture or any adventure or concern in the nature of trade, commerce or manufacture, whether or not any profit accrues from such trade, commerce, manufacture, adventure or concern. (g) 'dealer' means any person who carries on the business of buying, selling, supplying or distributing goods, directly or otherwise, whether for cash or for deferred payment or for commissi....
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.... court, no levy or collection of any tax under the provisions of the principal Act and of rules made thereunder in respect of sales in the course of business, whether or not it is carried on with a motive to make gain or profit shall be deemed to be invalid or ever to have been invalid on the ground only that such levy or collection was not in accordance with law and such tax levied or collected or purporting to have been levied or collected shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be and always to have been validly levied or collected; and accordingly- (a) all acts, proceedings or things done or taken by the State Government or by any officer of the State Government or by any other authority in connection with the levy or collection of such ....
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....f the Madras Entertainments Tax (Amendment) Act, 1966, which was similar to section 9 mentioned above came up for consideration. The question was whether the assessments were validly protected by that section. Reliance was placed on certain decisions of this court which laid down that it is open to the Legislature within certain limits to amend the provisions of the Act retrospectively and to declare what the law shall be deemed to have been but it was not open to the Legislature to say that a judgment of a court properly constituted and rendered shall be deemed to be ineffective. Hence it was held that the impugned assessment in that case could not be sustained. The principle which has been laid down clearly is that validation of tax which....