KURAPATI VENKATASATYANARAYANA & OTHERS versus THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

Citation: [1970] 1 S.C.R. 743 · Decided: 01-08-1969 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: J.C. SHAH · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Judgment (excerpt)

1 ,,, •• 
743 
A 
KURAPATI VENKATASATYANARAYANA & OTHERS 
B 
c 
D 
E 
F 
G 
H 
v. 
THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH 
August 1, 1969 
[J.C. SHAH, ACTING C.J., V. RAMASWAMI AND A. N. GROVER, ;;,J 
Constitution of India, Art. 285(1)(c)-Sales 
outside 
the 
State-
Whether burden of proof on dealer to show consumption in 
delivery 
State-Assessment Order-Comprehensive order covering sales 
taxable 
and those not taxable-If severable. 
The appellant, a dealer in pulses in Vijayawada in Madras State made 
certain sales outside the State durin.~ the assessment year 1949-50. 
The 
appellant claimed exemption from sales tax of sales effected outside the 
State during the year but the Deputy Commercial Tax Officer disallowed 
the claim. A first appeal and a revision petition to the Board of Revenue 
v.:ere unsuccessful. 
The appellant thereafter brought a suit for the ·re• 
covet)' of tax collected from him with interest contending that part of sates 
effected outside the State could not be taxed under Art. 285(1(a) of the\ 
Constitution. The Trial Court held that the assessment to tax of the sales 
during the period from April I, 1949 to January 25, 1950 could not be 
impeached but the sales from January 26 to March 31 outside the State 
\\'ere not liable to sales-tax; as there \Vas a sirg1e order of assessment 'for 
the whole year, the entire assessment was illegal. 
Jn aopeal to the High Court. and upon a direction from that Court, 
the Trial Court gave a finding that deliveries of the goods \\'ere not made 
for ptfrposes of consumotion within the delivery State only. 
The High 
Cour~. therefore. aHo\vcd the apoeal holding that the appellant could not 
claim the benefit under Article 286( 1) (a) in the absence of evidence as 
to how the whole-salers disriosed of the goods after obtaining delivery and 
therefore the entire turn-over for the year 1949-50 would be assessable 
to tax. 
Jn the appeal to this Court. it was contended inter-alia (i) that the 
High Court was in error in holding that the burden of proof was on the 
appellant to show that there was not only delivery of goods for consump-
tion within the delivery States but there was actual consumption of goods 
in those States; (ii) 
th~ assessment must be treated as an indivisible one 
and if a part of the ~ssessment was illegal, the entire assessment must be 
deemed to be infected and treated as invalid. 
HELD : Allowing the appeal, 
(i) The part of the tu1rnover which related to sales from January 26, 
1960 to March 31, 1960 was not liable to sales-tax and the levy of sales-
tax from the appellant to this extent was illegal. 
It was rightly contended that the appellant did not carry the burden 
of showing that there was not only delivery of goods for consumption 
within the States but that the ,goods were actually 
consumed in 
those 
States. [749 CJ 
India Copper Corporation Ltd. v. The State of Blhar, 12 S.T.C. S6 
relied upon. 
. 744 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[1970] l S C.R . 
(ii) In the p·resc.:nt case rhough there ,, .. as J single order of as!'>cssment 
for the pcrioJ fron1 April I, 1949 lo 1\-f'Jrch 31. 1950, the asscssn1cnt 
cculd he split up and dissected and the itcn1.;; of sales separated and taxed 
for different pcrioJs. 
It \\"JS 1X>ssiblc tv a<;ccrtain the turnover of the 
appellant for !he pre-Constitution and post-Constitution pcrio~s fro1n the 
fij:?urc\ furni!ihcJ in the plaint by the appellant himself. lt y,·a~. therefore. 
open to the Court in these circumstances to s~vcr the illegal part of the 
asscssn1cn1 and give a declaration "·ith regard tn the illegal part alone 
ins1ead of declaring the entire asSC!l'>rnent void. 
[7:'~ BJ 
Case J.1-w referred to. 
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTJO);: Civil Appeal l\o. 145 l of 
1968. 
A 
B 
Appeal from the judgment and decree dated March 11. 1965 c 
of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in A.S. Nos. 93 and 169 of 
1957. 
Rajes/11mra Rao and B. Part/w'illrathi, for the appellant. 
D. M1111ikan11iah and A. V. Ji. Nair, for the respondent. 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
Ramaswami, J. This appeal is brought by certificate from 
the judgment of the High Court of Andhrn Pradesh dated March 
11, 1965 in A.S Nos. 93 and 169 of 1957. 
The appellant was a firm of dealers in pulse> at Vijayawada. 
It was sending pulses like green gram and t-1ack gram to other 
States viz. : Bombay, Bengal, Madras and Kcrab by rJil in the 
course of their business. 
The consignments \\'Cre addressed to 
'self and the railway receipts w

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