1995 (8) TMI 291

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....vernment which reads as follows: "In exercise of the powers conferred by section 8-A of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957 (Karnataka Act 25 of 1957), the Government of Karnataka hereby exempts with effect from the first day of April, 1992, the tax payable under section 5 of the said Act by a dealer on the sale of spectacles, sun-glasses, goggles, lenses and frames (other than those imported from outside the country)." The assessing authority (respondent) passed an order of assessment dated May 27, 1995 (annexure B) holding that the entire turnover was exempted from payment of sales tax payable under section 5 of the Act. But he held that the petitioner's turnover is subject to turnover tax at 1.25 per cent under section 6-B of the Act. 3.....

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....ain Book Manufacturers v. Commercial Tax Officer reported in [1989] 75 STC 126, wherein this Court considered a notification issued under section 8-A exempting the tax payable under the Act in regard of sale of student note books, etc., and held that the words "tax payable under the Act" included all taxes leviable under the Act including turnover tax. 4.2. The last decision relied on by the petitioner is V. Radhakrishnaih Setty and Sons v. Commissioner of Commercial Taxes [1994] 94 STC 226. In that decision, this Court held that the words "tax levied under the Act" occurring in Explanation No. 8 to the Second Schedule of the Act, included turnover tax. 4.3. It is true that turnover tax is in fact an additional tax under the Act. It is al....

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....ued in the ordinary sense. There is no occasion to resort to any interpretative process, if the words clearly, unambiguously and directly convey the meaning .........all exemptions from tax must also be strictly construed and limited to the exemption itself; that is, there can be no extension or widening of the ambit of exemption at the stage of applicability of exemption." Hence, there is no scope for widening the scope of exemption by including the turnover tax levied under section 6-B, when the notification refers to only tax under section 5. 7.. The decision in Radhakrishnaih Setty and Sons' case [1994] 94 STC 226 (Kar) relied on by the petitioner in fact supports the view "tax payable under section 5 of the Act" cannot include turnov....