TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1979 (3) TMI 180
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....ad of a Full Bench consisting of five Judges. H.L. Sibal with R.P. Sawhney, for the petitioners. S.C. Mohunta, Advocate-General, Haryana, for the respondents. JUDGMENT:- DEWAN, J.-This judgment will dispose of four Writ Petitions Nos. 1925, 1967, 2162 and 2132 of 1975, which are constituted of similar facts and involve common questions of law. Material facts are not in dispute. The petitioner in each case is carrying on the business of sale and purchase of goods in the State of Haryana. Each one of them is a registered dealer and makes purchases of paddy and husks it into rice and is thus the last purchaser of paddy. The petitioners assert that they were not liable for the payment of purchase tax in respect of the purchas....
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.... of goods subject to the levy of purchase tax. Stage of its levy was then left undetermined. Section 24 of the Act relates to the rights of a registered dealer. Subsection (i) of the section reads: "24. Every dealer registered under this Act shall be entitled to purchase, without payment of tax, the following goods within the State, on the authority of his certificate of registration by giving to the dealer, from whom the goods are purchased, a declaration, duly filled and signed by him, containing such particulars, on such form, obtained from such authority, as may be prescribed, and in case such form is not available with such authority, in such manner, as may be prescribed,- (a).................................................. ....
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....e liability for the purchase tax on the paddy purchased by them during the period anterior to the date of the amendments. Elaborating, the learned counsel submitted that the power to amend an existing Act could not extend beyond making "small repairs" therein and that the amendments as made in the Act far exceeded such limits. In support of the contention, the learned counsel relied upon the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Krishnamurthi and Co. v. State of Madras[1973] 31 S.T.C. 190 at 197 (S.C.). In order to judge the merit of the contention, it appears necessary to state shortly the facts of the case before the Supreme Court. According to entry 47 in the First Schedule to the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959, the ....
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....petence of the legislature to make retrospective amendment with these observations at page 197 of the Reports: "It would thus appear that the amending Act was intended to cure an infirmity as revealed by the judgment of the High Court and to validate the past levy and collection of tax in respect of all kinds of non-lubricating mineral oils, including furnace oil, with effect from April 1, 1964. The legislature for this purpose split the original entry 47 into two entries, 47 and 47-A. The new entry 47 related to lubricating oils (not otherwise provided for in the Act), quenching oils and greases, while entry 47-A covered all kinds of mineral oils (other than those falling under item 47 and not otherwise provided for in the Act) includin....
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....ses an amending and validating Act. The object of such an enactment is to remove and rectify the defect in phraseology or lacuna of other nature and also to validate the proceedings, including realisation of tax, which have taken place in pursuance of the earlier enactment which has been found by the court to be vitiated by an infirmity. Such an amending and validating Act in the very nature of things has a retrospective operation. Its aim is to effectuate and carry out the object for which the earlier principal Act had been enacted. Such an amending and validating Act to make "small repairs" is a permissible mode of legislation and is frequently resorted to in fiscal enactments. As observed in 73 Harvard Law Review 692 at page 705: 'It ....
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....d that the amendments made for such purposes are within the concept and scope of what are called "small repairs". By the impugned amendments, extracted above, the Haryana Legislature did no more than to remove the lacuna in the Act. This is evident from the objects and reasons responsible for the amendments and the financial memorandum appended to the Bill termed "The Haryana General Sales Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 1976", which are reproduced below: "STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS 'The amendments and provisions have been necessitated to overcome certain lacunae experienced in the working of the Act and also to remove certain difficulties experienced by the trading community.' FINANCIAL MEMORANDUM 'For carrying out the pu....