1988 (4) TMI 379

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....h Court. The respondent is the assessee. The respondent is a P.W.D. contractor. He had undertaken certain contract works on behalf of the Public Works Department. He had executed agreements with the P.W.D. for repair of roads. The question involved is, whether the materials used by the assessee for the said purpose can be taxed under purchase tax under section 5A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 (hereinafter called "the Act"). The relevant provisions of section 5A(1)(a), (b), (c), (2) and (3) of the Act are as follows: "5A. Levy of Purchase tax.-(1) Every dealer who, in the course of his business, purchases from a registered dealer or from any other person any goods, the sale or purchase of which is liable to tax under this Act,....

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....nd rupees but not more than twenty-five thousand rupees may, at his option, instead of paying the tax in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1), pay tax at the rate mentioned in clause (i) of sub-section (1) of section 7 in accordance with the provisions of that section." The assessee was assessed on the purchase turnover of sand, bricks, etc., which were used for the execution of his work. The assessment was upheld by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. In the second appeal preferred by the assessee, the Tribunal found that the assessee was a P.W.D. contractor. He had obtained an amount of Rs. 1,01,372 as per bills from the Executive Engineer (Roads and Buildings). According to the assessing officer an amount of Rs. 27,684.....

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....ng the removal of inedible portions, the slicing and thereafter canning it on adding sugar to preserve it. It is contended for the Revenue that pineapple slices have a higher price in the market than the original fruit and that implies that the slices constitute a different commercial commodity. The higher price, it seems to us, is occasioned only because of the labour put into making the fruit more readily consumable and because of the can employed to contain it. It is not as if the higher price is claimed because it is a different commercial commodity. It is said that pineapple slices appeal to a different sector of the trade and that when a customer asks for a can of pineapple slices he has in mind something very different from fresh pin....