THE STATE OF TELANGANA & ORS. versus M/S TIRUMALA CONSTRUCTIONS

Citation: [2023] 15 S.C.R. 141 · Decided: 20-10-2023 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: S. RAVINDRA BHAT · Disposal: Disposed off

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Judgment (excerpt)

[2023] 15 S.C.R. 141 : 2023 INSC 942
141
CASE DETAILS
THE STATE OF TELANGANA & ORS. 
v.
M/S TIRUMALA CONSTRUCTIONS
(Civil Appeal No(s). 1628 of 2023)
OCTOBER 20, 2023
[S. RAVINDRA BHAT AND ARAVIND KUMAR, JJ.]
HEADNOTES
Issue for consideration: The Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 
2016, introduces a fundamental re-ordering of the constitutional premise of 
taxation by the Union and State Governments in India. It is the framework to 
enable the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). These batch 
of appeals arise from judgments delivered by the Telangana, Gujarat and 
Bombay High Court. The concerned States (Telangana and Gujarat) have 
appealed aggrieved by the judgments. The assessee petitioners are appellants, 
and are aggrieved by the judgments of Bombay High Court.
Constitution of India – Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 
2016 – Eff ect of:
Held: The coming into force of the GST regime, and the passage of 
the amendment demonstrates a rare unanimity, a resolve across the political 
spectrum, to ensure that there is a single indirect taxation regime – The 
eff ect of the Amendment is to subsume all state and union taxes, on goods 
and services – Both the Union and the States will ostensibly have the power 
to tax the supply of goods and services – The 101st Amendment Act takes 
away neither the Union’s nor the States’ taxing power but instead gives 
them the power to impose taxes on supply of goods and supply of services 
respectively – Through Article 246-A the Amendment creates: (a) a new 
legislative fi eld, conferring; (b) legislative authority outside the three Lists 
of the Seventh Schedule; (c) concurrent powers to both Parliament and the 
State Legislatures to enact legislations on the same subject-matter and at 
the same time. [Para 8]
142 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2023] 15 S.C.R.
Constitution of India – Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 2016 
– s.19 – Interpretation of:
Held: S.19 seeks to achieve three aims – The fi rst is to preserve 
the existing status quo with regard to the state and central indirect tax 
regime, for a period of one year from the date of commencement of the 
Amendment or till a new law is enacted whichever is earlier – The second 
is authorizing the competent legislatures i.e. the State Legislatures and 
Parliament to amend existing laws which were in force in states and other 
parts of the country (both Central and State laws) – The third was the 
repeal of such laws – S.19 was meant to be transitional – In its absence, 
the several hundreds of state enactments and central laws which were in 
force, would have been jeopardized – Other than s.19 there is no saving 
provision which is part of the Amendment – So, s.19 of the Constitution 
(101st Amendment) Act, 2016 and Article 246A enacted in exercise of 
constituent power, formed part of the transitional arrangement for the 
limited duration of its operation, and had the eff ect of continuing the 
operation of inconsistent laws for the period(s) specifi ed by it and, by 
virtue of its operation, allowed state legislatures and Parliament to amend 
or repeal such existing laws. [Paras 73, 116]
Constitution of India – Ordinary law and Constitutional law:
Held: An ordinary law such as an Act of Parliament, is a product of a 
legislative exercise – The source of that power is traced to the Constitution 
in some specifi c provisions or through fi elds of legislation enumerated 
in one or the other lists – Constitutional law on the other hand is that it 
arises out of the Constitution and creates diff erent organs of the State, 
defi nes their power and imposes limitations on the functioning of the 
Executive and legislative wings through the fundamental rights and other 
limitations – An ordinary law can be made or changed by the same body, 
the legislating body in exercising legislative power – Since constitutional 
amendments relates to the fundamental law of the land which is a source 
of authority for other laws, it can be achieved only through fulfi lling the 
special procedure. [Para 77]
Constitution of India – Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 
2016 – s.19 – Whether the power of amendment or repeal is subject to 
limitations u/s. 19:
143
THE STATE OF TELANGANA & ORS. v. M/S TIRUMALA 
CONSTRUCTIONS
Held: There were no limitations u/s. 19 (read together with Art. 
246A), of the Amendment – That provision constituted the expression 
of the sovereign legislative power, available to both Parliament and state 
legislatures, to ma

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