- (1.) The State Bank of India has challenged the action of the Commercial taxes Department at seizing the goods, the documents including the bills and Railway Receipts of goods purchased by the Bank. The respondent No. 3, M/s. Shree Phool Industries (Phool Oil Mills)Bhuratpur was granted credit facility by the petitioner and the hill of exchange (hundi) drawn in favour of intending purchaser to make the payment of the value specified in Hundi to the petitioner giving complete details and the descriptions of the goods, goods receipts, showing the petitioner as the consignee were purchased and the full payment was credited to the account of the respondent No. 3. The respondent No. 3 has entered into an agreement for sale with the purchaser in whose name the bill and hundi were drawn. In order to avoid the facility of loan the documents were handed over and sold to the petitioner. When the goods were in transit on October 16, 1981, 199 tins of mustared oil were attached fist the recovery of sales-tax dues outstanding against Phool Oil Industries of Rs. 19,928/- and Rs. 19,852.68 P. for the year 1981-82. It was found from the despatch register that these goods were despatched by M/s. Phool Oil Industries and as such the goods were attached. A representation was made to the Commercial Taxes Officer by the petitioner that too without avail. It has been submitted that the learned Counsel for the petitioner that in accordance with Anr. 4 it is mentioned in the GR that the consignment will not be detained, divested, re-routed, or re-booked without the consignee Bank's written permission and the name of the consignee has been shown as State Bank of India. The GR is to be endorsed in favour of Dwarka Prasad Shyambabu on making the payment and till then the Bank is having the title over the goods and the documents.
(2.) The submission of the learned Counsel for the respondents is that the State is having priority over the goods of a dealer and the Bank is not the purchaser of the goods and no title vests with it. In respect of dues outstanding of the Commercial Taxes Department the recovery can be made and the State will have the first right over it.
(3.) I have not considered over the matter. It may be noted that the provisions of Section 11-AAAA provide that notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force any amount of tax, penalty, interest or any other sum payable by a dealer or any other person under the Act shall be the first charge on the property of the dealer or such person. The provisions cannot be given more effect beyond what has been mentioned in the section itself and the provisions of Section 11-AAAA have no application. It may be observed that the word 'any law' has been used under Article 254 of the Constitution of India and refers to in the context of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act which has been enacted by the State Legislature and an Act of State Legislature cannot over- ride over the provisions of Central legislature. A similar controversy was considered by the Apex Court in the case of Gannon Dunkerley v. State,1958 9 STC 354, wherein the question of 'sale' as incorporated in the local law was considered to be contrary to the provisions of definition of 'sale' as given under the Sales of Goods Act which is a Central Act. It was held that the definition under the State Act which is not in conformity with the definition given in the Act of Parliament is bad in law. Section 171 of the Indian Contract provides that Bankers, factors, wharfingers attorneys of a High Court and Policy-brokers may in the absence of a contract to the contrary retain as security for a general balance of account any goods bailed to them but no other persons have a right to retain as a security for such balance, goods bailed to them, unless there is an express contract to that effect. In Misa v. Currie, 1876 1 Appeal Cases, 554, it has been held a banker's lien when it was not excluded by the special contract expressly or impliedly extends to all the bills charges and money entrusted or paid to him by all security deposits in his character as a banker.;