LexAGRICULTURAL INCOME TAX OFFICER &ANR. versus GOODRICKE GROUP LTD. &ANR.
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[2015] 3 S.C.R. 612 A AGRICULTURAL INCOME TAX OFFICER &ANR. B c v. GOODRICKE GROUP LTD. &ANR. (Civil Appeal No. 9043 of 2003) MARCH 25, 2015 [A.K. SIKRI AND ROHINTON FALi NARIMAN, JJ.) Gess - Refund - Entitlement to refund of cess paid with interest 12 % pa - Rural employment cess and education cess - Levy of- High Court on basis of interim orders passed in Buxa Dooars's case and Goodricke's case held that for o the period pn"or to the Amendment Act of 1989, respondent entitled to refund of cess paid by it with interest 12 % pa, and interest would only be payable after assessment orders are passed - However, interim order in Buxa's case was substituted by the final order which held that the charging E Sections under the 1976 Act and the 1973 Act were inva/id- Subsequently, two West Bengal Acts were amended in 1989 with retrospective effect, and the levy of the rural employment cess and education cess which was levied under the principal Acts on the basis of dispatch of manufactured tea was now F levied on the basis of production of tea leaves - Said 1989 Amendment Act was upheld in Goodricke's case and direction was issued to pay cesses stayed by the orders of the court along with interest 12 % pa - On appeal, held: ss. G 48 and 78C have changed the basis of the law as it existed when Buxa's case was decided and consequentially, the judgment and interim order passed in Buxa's case will cease to have any effect- What was payable under the unamended Act, is now payable only under the 1989 Amendment Act H which has come into force with retrospective effect- The 1989 612 AGRICULTURALINCOMETAXOFFICERv. GOODRICKE 613 GROUP LTD. Amendment Act expressly seeks to remove the basis of A Buxa'sjudgment by retrospectively changing the basis of the levy of the cesses - Impugned judgment rightly held that with regard to the payment ofinterest by the petitioner on the amount of cess payable by virtue of the Goodricke's case, interest would only be payable from the respective dates of B assessment for the various relevant periods till recovery - West Bengal Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Act, 1989 - ss. 4B, 78C - West Bengal Rural Employment and Production Act, 1976- West Bengal Primary Education Act, C 1973. Disposing of the appeal, the Court HELD: 1.1 It is clear from a reading of Section 4B and Section 78C of the West Bengal Taxation Laws D (Second Amendment) Act, 1989 that where any sum is paid by or collected from an owner of a tea estate during a period commencing from 01.04.1981or14.04.1984, as the case may be, up to the date ofthe Amendment Act as rural employment cess or as education cess, such E portion of the said sum as may become payable under the provisions of the Amendment Act shall, notwithstanding any judgment, decree or order of any court, be deemed to have been validly levied, paid. or F collected under the Amendment Act. [Para 12] [624-E-F] 1.2 The purport of ss. 4B and 78C is clear. Whatever may have been the subject matter of Buxa Dooars's case, that is the subject matter of the two Acts- G West Bengal Rural Employment and Production Act, 1976 and West Bengal Primary Education Act, 1973 as originally enacted, will now, notwithstanding the interim order or the final judgment in Buxa Dooars's case, be deemed to have been validly levied, collected and paid H 614 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2015] 3 S.C.R. A as rural employment cess and education cess under the Amendment Act. This being the case, it is clear that Section 48 and Section 78C have changed the basis of the law as it existed when Buxa Dooars's case was decided and consequentially, the judgment and interim B order passed in Buxa Dooars's case will cease to have any effect. Also, what would have been payable under the Act as unamended, is now payable only under the 1989 Amendment Act which has come into force with C retrospective effect. [Paras 13 and 14) [624-G-H; 625-A- C] 1.3 Rural employment cess and education cess continue to be the same cess whether before or after 0 the Amendment Act. What has been changed is the basis. for the said levy so as to undo the defects that were found in the Buxa Dooars's case. It is obvious that when the basis ·of Buxa Dooars's case has gone, on a retrospective amendment of these two Acts, the interim order and the E judgment and order in Buxa Dooars's case can no longer survive. In the instant case, the 1989 amendment Act expressly seek
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