LexPOLAKI MOTORS AND ORS. versus STATE OF ORISSA AND ORS.
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A B c D E F POLAK! MOTORS AND ORS. v. STATE OF ORISSA AND ORS. OCTOBER 14, 1992 [S. RANGANATHAN, V. RAMASWAMI AND B.P. JEEVAN REDDY, JJ.] The Orissa Additional Sales Tax (Amending & Validation) Act, 1983 (Act 22 of 1983) : Sec. 3-<:onstitutional validity of-Additional Sales T~Si.ngle Point Tax convened into Multi point tax validity or-Validation Act whether retros- pective-Effect on Govt.· undenaldngs for refund of excess Tax. Orissa Additional Sales Tax (Amending & Validation) Act, 1983: Sec. rAdditional Tax on Taxable Turnover or Gross. Turnover or Total tumovel"'--[)etermination by reopening assessment-Legality of-Ap- plicability of Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947. In this matter, there were three sets of petitions/Appeals. First set of writ petitions questions the Constitutional validity of the Orissa Addi· tional Sales Tas (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 1983. The second set contains the writ petitions that relate to the question of Con- stitutional validity of the Orissa Additional Sales Tas (Amendment and Validation) Act, 1983 (Act 22 of 1~83) which replaced the Ordinance, while Civil Appeal of third set challenges the judgment of the Orissa High Court in which the Constitutional yalidity of the said Act was upheld. All these three sets relate to the vires of the said Act i.e. Orissa Act 22 of 1983. The Appellant in the Civil Appeal and Writ petitioners are the registered dealers under the Orissa Sales Tas Act, 1947 (hereinafter G referred to as the principal Act). Sec. 4 imposes the liability upon every dealer whose gross turnover during the fiscal year exceeds Rs. 50000.00 to pay lases in accordance with the principal Act. Sec. S says that the tas is payable by the dealer only on his taxable turnover at the percentage notified by the Government from time to time. Section 6 enables the H Government, by notification, to exempt from tas the sale or purchase of 994 POLAKI MOTORS v. STATE OF ORJSSA 995 any goods or class of goods and likewise withdraw any such exemption. A Sec. 7 pr'lvldes that notwithstanding anything contrary in the Principal Act, the State Government may eJ1empt In whole or In part any class of dealers from the payment of Tax or allow any class of dealers to defer from payment of tax. Sec. 8 which is relevant for the purposes of this Appeal describes the 'power of the State Government to prescribe points at which goods may be taxed or exempted. In all possibility, it may be seen that the scheme of the Princlpal Act provides that if the goods are not exempted under sec. 6 then either the sale or the purchase could be taxed and not both. Sec. 8 also restricts the levy of either the sales tax or purchase tax B to a single point in the same series of sales or purchase by successive dealers of the same goods. It may also be seen that the Principal Act C provides a Tax on the taxable turnover and not on the gross turnover. The State Legislatnre enacted the Orissa Additional Sales Tax Act, 1975 which levied an additional tax, on the tax payable by a dealer under the Principal Act, in the nature of enhancement of their liability. However D they were prohibited from passing on the incidence of additional tax to the purchasers. Though the validity of this provision was never questioned but a similar enactment of the Tamil Nadu Additional Sales Tax Act, 1970 was upheld by this Court in S. Koder v. State of Kera/a, [1975] 1 SCR 121. By a notification, in exercise of powers under sec. 3 of the Amending E Act, the State Governme"t on 23rd March, 1979 notifi•d the rates of addi- tional tax payable at one-half per cent of the annaal cross turnover. The assessing authority took the view that every dealer was liable to pay addition- al tax on his annual gross turnover irrespective of its taxability under the Principal Act and that the new levy was in the nature of multipoint tax. This F view of the Assessing Officers was challenged in the High Court by way of Appeal. Dismissing these appeals, the High Court deemed the Additional Sales Tax Act as a seperate enactment with an independent existence. The assessees preferred Appeals to this Court and they were disposed of in tlje Judgment reported lnAshok Service Centre & Ors. v.State of Orissa, [1983] 2 G SCC 82. The point for determination by this Court in those appeals was' whether the levy of additional tax under the Additional Sales Tax Act, 1979 is a single point levy or a multipoint levy,
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