- (1.)The petitioner before us is the Gokak Mills Limited which is a public company having its registered office in Bombay and a Local Office at the Gokak Falls in the District of Belgaum. The Company owns a cotton mill and near the Gokak Falls it generates by the hydro-electric process electrical energy. The energy so generated is supplied by the company to the mills and for its other purposes. By a communication addressed to it by Government on April 28, 1966 it was called upon to pay tax on the electrical energy consumed by it under the provisions of the Mysore Electricity (Taxation on Consumption) Act, 1959, which will be referred to as the Act in the course of this judgment, on the entire electrical energy consumed by it including the tax payable in respect of the energy lost between the point of generation and the point of consumption.
(2.)The company asks us in this writ petition to quash that demand and to make a direction for the refund of the tax collected so far on that basis.
(3.)Section 3 of the Act charges tax on consumption of electrical energy and Sec. 2 (1) defines a 'consumer' and the definition takes within it also a person who consumes energy generated by himself. Section 4 provides for the payment of tax in accordance with the formula specified in Section 3, and, Section 4 (3) which is the relevant statutory provision which has to be interpreted by us in this writ petition reads :
"Every person, who consumes energy generated by himself, or who supplies energy to any other person free of charge, shall pay or collect and pay, as the case may be, to the State Government, at the time and in the manner prescribed, the electricity tax payable under Section 3 on the units of energy consumed by himself or supplied to such other person."

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