MADAN B.LOKUR, CJ - (1.) THESE appeals are directed against a common judgment and order dated 1 -2 -2006 passed by a learned Single Judge in WP(C) No.7812/2002, WP(C) No.5369/2002 and WP(C) No.7896/2002.
(2.) THE appellants in two of the appeals are a private limited company which was earlier a partnership concern of Sanat Kumar Dey. THE WRIT APPEAL NO.82 -84/2006 Page 4 of 11 appellant in the third appeal is Sanat Kumar Dey. All the appellants, therefore, are really one and the same. The appellants carry on the business of developing exposed photographic film rolls into negatives and then processing the negatives into positive photographs. They also process negatives received by them from customers into positive photographs. The developing and processing is done on a job work basis and, according to the appellants, it does not involve any sale of goods or transfer of property in goods. The appellants, it appears, are not in the business of being commissioned to take photographs or processing them. According to the respondents, the appellants" transactions fall within the category of "works contract" as defined in Article 366 (29A) of the Constitution of India and the Assam General Sales Tax Act, 1993 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). According to the respondents since the various job works involve a sale of goods (the chemicals used in developing exposed photographic film rolls and processing negatives), the appellants are liable to pay sales tax under the Act to that extent.
(3.) SHOW cause notices for payment of sales tax were issued to the appellants and they denied their liability. However, the respondents did not accept the views expressed by the appellants and they raised demands for different financial years. The appellants preferred appeals before the Deputy Commissioner of Taxes (Appeals) but the appeals were rejected and the assessments confirmed. Under these circumstances the appellants filed writ petitions before this court which came to be dismissed by the learned Single Judge by the judgment under appeal. The question that we are required to answer is whether the transactions entered into by the appellants are works contracts (that is composite contracts having both a service element and a sale element) with deemed sales or mutant sales of goods for the purposes of liability to sales tax.;