BHAGABATI PROSAD BANERJEE,J. - (1.) IN this case the West Bengal Commercial Taxes Tribunal has referred the following question of law before this Court under section 21 (1) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941, read with section 9 (2) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, at the instance of the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes : " Whether, upon a true and correct interpretation of the provisions of section 2 (i) and 8 (2a) of the Central Sales Tax Act read with section 6 (1) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, the Tribunal in the facts and circumstances of the case was justified in applying the nil rate on inter-State of motor spirit ?"
(2.) IN this case a preliminary question has been raised as to whether this Court had jurisdiction to hear and dispose of this reference in view of the provisions of section 7 (2) of the West Bengal Taxation Tribunal Act, 1987. By this Act the State Government had established a Tribunal in respect of matters relating to levy, assessment, collection and enforcement of any taxes under the specified State Acts in pursuance of article 323b of the Constitution of India. Section 7 (2) of the said Act provides that all references which were pending before this Court, shall stand automatically transferred before the West Bengal Taxation Tribunal. The specified State Acts in respect of which the said Tribunal had been constituted, includes the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 and other State Acts but does not exclude the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. Now, the question is whether the question of law even though relates to the Central Sales Tax Act, stands transferred to the West Bengal Taxation Tribunal or not. This reference was made under section 21 (1) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941, read with section 9 (2) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. It may be mentioned that the Central Sales Tax Act did not lay down any machinery or procedure for the purpose of levy and collection of Central sales tax. Section 9 (2) of the Central Sales Tax Act provides that : " Subject to the other provisions of this Act and the Rules made thereunder, the authorities for the time being empowered to assess, reassess, collect and enforce payment of any tax under the general sales tax law of the appropriate State shall, on behalf of the Government of India, assess, reassess, collect and enforce payment of tax, including any penalty, payable by a dealer under this Act as if the tax or penalty payable by such a dealer under the general sales tax law of the State, and for this purpose they may exercise all or any of the powers they have under the general sales tax law of the State; and the provisions of such law, including provisions relating to returns, provisional assessment, advance payment of tax, registration of the transferee of any business, imposition of the tax liability of a person carrying on business on the transferee of, or successor to, such business, transfer of liability of any firm or Hindu undivided family to pay tax in the event of the dissolution of such firm or partition of such family, recovery of tax from third parties, appeals, reviews, revisions, references, refunds, rebates, penalties, charging or payment of interest, compounding of offences and treatment of documents furnished by a dealer as confidential, shall apply accordingly : Provided that if an any State or part thereof there is no general sales tax law in force, the Central Government may, by rules made in this behalf make necessary provision for all or any of the matters specified in this sub-section. "
(3.) IT is not in dispute that the returns under the Central Sales Tax Act though in a different form are filed before the Commercial Tax Officer appointed by the State Government under the provisions of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 and assessments are also made by the authorities under the State Act and that the procedure for appeal, revision under the State Act is applicable in case of assessment, levy and collection of Central sales tax. If the scheme of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 and the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, are examined, it is clearly established that the two Acts are interlined in its operation. The Commercial Tax Officer determines the gross turnover under the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941, after deducting therefrom the turnover under section 5 (2) (a) (v) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941, which reads as follows : " Sales of goods which are shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioner not to have taken place in West Bengal, or to have taken place in the course of inter-State trade or commerce, within the meaning of section 3 of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (74 of 1956), or in the course of import of the goods into, or export of the goods out of, the territory of India, within the meaning of section 5 of that Act. " ;