JAGAT NARAYAN, CJ. - (1.) -
(2.) 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 1. 7. 57. In both these cases the Deputy Commissioner (Administration) Commercial Taxes discovered that sales tax had been charged at the rate of 1% instead of being charged at the rate of 2% on certain inter-State sales. He accordingly directed the Sales-tax Officer to re-assess the dealer under sec. 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 sec. 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 sec. 15 (1) for making a reference to the High Court on 22. 5. 69. The Board of Revenue having failed to dispose of the applications within 120 days the present applications have been filed by the State under sec. 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 sec. 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 19-3-69. Before the expiry of 60 days, sec. 15 (1)i was amended by Rajasthan Act No. 11 of 1969 with effect from 2. 5. 69 and this period was increased to 120 days. The application before the Board of Revenue u/s. 15 (1) which was filed on 22 5-69 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 1-7-57 the Rajasthan Sales tax Act was made applicable under sec. 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 Sharma Rao vs. Union Territory of Pondicherry (l) the Rajasthan Sales-tax Act as it stood on 1-7 57 is applicable so far as assessments under the Central Sales-tax Act 1956 are concerned. In the Rajasthan Act as it stood on 1-7-57 only the dealer could make an application under sec. 15 (1) and not the assessing authority. Sec. 15 of the Rajasthan Act was amended by Rajasthan Act No. 2 of 1963, which came into force on 29-3 63 and by that amendment the assessing authority can also make an application for reference under sec. 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. Sec. 6 of the Central Sales-tax (Amendment) Act 1969 runs as follows: - "for sec. 9 of the principal Act, the following section shall be, and shall be deemed always to have been, substituted, namely: The effect of the above amendment is that sec. 9 (2) of the Act as it was amended in 1969 will be substituted for sec. (2) as it stood on 1. 7. 57. The amended sec. 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, re-assess, 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, re-assess, 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 or 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, 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 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-sec. " 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. . ;