JAGAT NARAYAN, C. J. - (1.) THESE are connected references by M/s. Man Industrial Corporation Ltd. relating to the assessments for the years 1958-59 and 1959-60 on inter-State sales which are governed by the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, which came into force in Rajasthan with effect from 1st July, 1957.
(2.) IN both these cases the Deputy Commissioner (Administration) Commercial Taxes discovered that sales tax had been charged at the rate of 1 per cent. instead of being charged at the rate of 2 per cent. on certain inter-State sales. He accordingly directed the Sales Tax Officer to reassess the dealer under section 12 of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954. The Sales Tax Officer issued notices to the dealer in respect of both the years and the dealer filed revision applications to the Board of Revenue under section 14 of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954. The Board of Revenue allowed the revision applications. The State then filed two applications before the Board of Revenue under section 15 (1) for making a reference to the High Court on 22nd May, 1969. The Board of Revenue having failed to dispose of the applications within 120 days the present applications have been filed by the State under section 15 (3a) before this court. Two preliminary objections have been taken on behalf of the dealer. The first objection is that the applications filed on behalf of the State under section 15 (1) before the Board of Revenue were barred by limitation as they were filed beyond 60 days of the date of the order of the Board on the revision applications. The record of the Board of Revenue goes to show that the order was pronounced on 19th March, 1969. Before the expiry of 60 days, section 15 (1) was amended by Rajasthan Act No. 11 of 1969 with effect from 2nd May, 1969, and this period was increased to 120 days. The application before the Board of Revenue under section 15 (1) which was filed on 22nd May, 1969, was therefore within limitation. The first preliminary objection has thus no force. The second preliminary objection is that under the Central Sales Tax Act which came into force on 1st July, 1957, the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act was made applicable under section 9 (2) as it stands today by retrospective amendment by the Central Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1969. In view of the decision of their Lordships of the Supreme Court in Shama Rao v. Union Territory of Pondicherry ([1967] 20 S. T. C. 215), the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act as it stood on 1st July, 1957, is applicable so far as assessments under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, are concerned. In the Rajasthan Act as it stood on 1st July, 1957, only the dealer could make an application under section 15 (1) and not the assessing authority. Section 15 of the Rajasthan Act was amended by Rajasthan Act No. 2 of 1963, which came into force on 29th March, 1963, and by that amendment the assessing authority can also make an application for reference under section 15. The learned Additional Advocate-General contends that as the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, was amended in 1969 by the Central Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1969, the Rajasthan Act as it stood in 1969 is applicable in disposing of cases under the Central Sales Tax Act. This argument is untenable. Section 6 of the Central Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1969, runs as follows : " For section 9 of the principle Act, the following section shall be, and shall be deemed always to have been, substituted, namely :-" The effect of the above amendment is that section 9 (2) of the Act as it was amended in 1969 will be substituted for section 9 (2) as it stood on 1st July, 1957. The amended section 9 (2) runs as follows : " (2) 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 this Act is a tax or penalty payable 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 transfer 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, penalties, compounding of offences and treatment of documents furnished by a dealer as confidential, shall apply accordingly : Provided that if in any State or part thereof there is no general sales tax law in fore, 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. " There is no provision in the Amendment Act of 1969 laying down that the Rajasthan Act as it stood on the date of the coming into force of the Central Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1969, will be applicable. This contention of the learned Additional Advocate-General has therefore no force. We accordingly uphold the second preliminary objection and dismiss both the reference applications with costs. Applications dismissed. . ;