- (1.) The question raised before us in these appeals is one relating to the interpretation of notification which exempts from tax payable under the a. P. General Sales Tax Act, 1957 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") on sales of all books and periodicals with effect from 1-4-1964. Prior to this notification sales of the following books were exempted from tax under the act: "Government of India publications books, stationery etc. supplied by the Stationery Department of the state Government to other departments of the Government. Books published by the universities scriptures of the Foreign Bible Society, Quran, books on religion, puranic and Vedic literature with or without commentaries, and books on theosophy sold by dealers dealing exclusively in such books; and * * * explanation.-A person shall be deemed to be dealing exclusively in books mentioned in this item if he deals only in those books and does not deal in books of any other kind. "
(2.) By notification dated 29-1-1964 exemption from the tax payable was granted under the said Act on the sales of "all books and periodicals" with effect from 1-4-1964. Subsequently by GOMs No. 625 Rev. (CT-II) dated 31-7-1996 the said exemption was confined only to periodicals and printed books for reading; and, reduced the rate of tax in respect of sales of all books including exercise books and notebooks other than periodicals and printed books for reading, if the paper out of which such books are manufactured had already been subject to tax.
(3.) Identical notices to the dealers were issued in terms of Section 20 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act to reopen the assessments on the basis that they were printing and selling C-form books, lottery tickets, share certificates etc. and such books should be treated as unclassified items; that there is no reason to classify them as books and make them eligible to exemption. The validity of those notices was challenged before the High court by way of writ petitions. The High Court relying upon the decision in govindaswamy Binding Works v. State of A. P. allowed the writ petitions. A division Bench of the High Court in that decision took the view that the expression "all books" would include any kind of books including account books, notebooks, loose sheets of paper fastened together and they need not be literary works or books of the kind specified in the prior notification issued by the Government; that the words "all books" are not technical words, that they are plain and simple words understood in common parlance as taking within their range every possible kind of books; that the expression "book" itself is comprehensive enough to take in all kinds of books and the word "all" will make it abundantly manifest and plain that the notification was issued to cover all cases of sales of books and is not restricted in its application to books of literary material or other kinds of reading material.;