1984 (12) TMI 288

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.... are the assessment years 1970-71, 1973-74, 1974-75 and 1975-76. Although the prayers in the petitions are for directing the Tribunal to refer several questions to this Court for determination, before the Sales Tax Tribunal the applications were only for referring to this Court for determination of one question, and that question is as follows: "Whether, on the facts and circumstances of the case, the department of sales tax ought to have made an order for refund on admitted shortage of sale of motor spirit and, if so, the applicant is entitled to the said refund from the opponent?" 2.. We may make it clear that we directed rule nisi to issue merely because Mr. Sequeira appeared in person on behalf of the petitioner-company and we fou....

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....to the petitioner. The petitioner filed returns as prescribed under the Bombay Sales of Motor Spirit Taxation Rules, 1958, in respect of the aforesaid assessment years. The returns were accepted, and it was held that no tax was liable to be paid under the said Act by the petitioner-company in the aforesaid assessment years. The Motor Spirit Taxation Officer also accepted the quantity of shortages shown in the returns by the petitioner-company. However, no direction was given by the Taxation Officer for the grant of any refund to the petitioner-company as sought for by the petitioner-company. It may be mentioned here that the case of the petitioner is that the motor spirit purchased by the petitioner from Caltex (India) Ltd. was stored by th....

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.... (2)..... (3) Where any motor spirit purchased by any trader has been stored in the storage installation belonging to a trader who sells it, the quantity of motor spirit lost on account of leakage or evaporation shall be deducted from the total sales on which the tax is payable, if a refund in respect of such quantity is allowed by the trader who has sold such motor spirit." In our view, for the purposes of this rule, Caltex (India) Ltd. must be regarded as a trader who has sold goods in question and the petitioner must be regarded as a purchaser. The rule comes into play only where the purchasing trader has stored the motor spirit purchased by him from the selling trader in a storage installation belonging to the selling trader and ....