TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2000 (12) TMI 790
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....eal arises out of judgment and order dated February 4, 1999, passed by the division Bench of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, dismissing the appeal and refusing the prayer of the appellants to the effect that they may not be required by the respondent to deposit the balance amount of sales tax for the period prior to March 31, 1997. 3.. The brief facts are that the appellants sell their product namely, mustard/edible oil in the State of Jammu and Kashmir while the manufacturing takes place in the State of Punjab and Haryana. Section 4(1) of the Jammu and Kashmir General Sales Tax Act, 1962, is the charging provision for the levy of sales tax in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The State Government issued notification under the aforesaid provis....
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....from outside the State, came to be considered by this Court in the case of Shree Mahavir Oil Mills v. State of Jammu and Kashmir [1997] 104 STC 148; (1996) 11 SCC 39. It was held that "by exempting unconditionally the edible oil produced within the State of Jammu and Kashmir altogether from sales tax, even if it is for a period of ten years, while subjecting the edible oil produced in other States to sales tax at eight per cent, the State of Jammu and Kashmir has brought about discrimination by taxation prohibited by article 304(a) of the Constitution". The operative part of the order reads as follows: "We declare that the exemption granted by Notification No. S.R.O. 93 of 1991 to local manufacturers/producers of edible oil is violative o....
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...., namely, the remaining 4 per cent of the sales tax. 6.. At one hand, it is submitted that invalidity of the notification of exemption has been given effect to with effect from April 1, 1997, namely, the manufacturers within the State are to be treated exempted from payment of sales tax up to March 31, 1997, under a notification found to be invalid, whereas the appellants are called upon to deposit the remaining 4 per cent of the sales tax. It is submitted that in the event of extending the benefit of exemption of an invalid notification up to a particular period to the local manufacturers, it was only just and fair not to realise the remaining 4 per cent of the sales tax from the appellants. This amount has also not been realised by the a....
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.... by the State in exercise of its powers vested under the Jammu and Kashmir General Sales Tax Act, 1962 and in the present case, different notifications have been issued from time to time ultimately raising the rate of tax in question to 8 per cent. It has nowhere been challenged that sales tax could not be levied nor the rate of tax. As a matter of fact, exemption granted to the local manufacturers was impugned. Therefore, it would not be open for the appellants to contend that they were not liable to pay the sales tax. It is also to be noticed that exemption from payment of tax as available to local manufacturers as well as its levy upon the appellants, till the time it was at the rate of 4 per cent, was not objected to at all on any groun....
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....o the request made that the appellants may not be required to deposit the balance amount of the sales tax. The fact that the appellants did not choose to realise the full tax from the customers, though they were under obligation to do so, would be no good ground to exempt them from making the payment of the remaining amount of sales tax or to write off their liability. 9.. So far the contention that such a concession has been given to the local manufacturers by virtue of an order passed in the case of Shree Mahavir Oil Mills [1997] 104 STC 148 (SC); (1996) 11 SCC 39, it may be indicated that the local manufacturers were exempted from payment of sales tax by virtue of Notification No. S.R.O. 93/1991 issued under section 5 of the Jammu and K....
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....aid amount. In the present case however we find that there was no impediment in the way of the appellant to realise the sales tax at the full rate. In the other case also reported in [2000] 119 STC 10 (SC); (2001) 1 SCC 765 (Shree Cement Ltd. v. State of Rajasthan) the liability of payment of sales tax had arisen in view of the decision of the court and before the decision they have not been realising the tax. In the facts of the present case, the appellants shall derive no assistance from the said decision as well. 11.. In view of the discussion held above in our view it is not a case for interference with the orders passed by the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and to issue any such direction to the respondents not to realise the balance....