MANGANESE ORE INDIA LTD Vs. REGIONAL ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF SALES TAX JABALPUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution calls into question two assessment orders passed on 27th July 1971 by the regional Commissioner of Sales Tax, Jabalpur. One of the orders is under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, and the other under the Madhya Pradesh general Sales Tax Act, 1959. Both the orders cover the period from 1st April 1967 to 31st March 1968. The assessee in these orders is the petitioner, manganese Ore (India) Limited, hereinafter referred to as the petitioner company.

(2.) THE petitioner company is a Government company and it was formed in pursuance of an agreement dated 8th June 1962 between the President of india and the Central Provinces Manganese Ore Company Limited, incorporated in the United Kingdom, hereinafter referred to as the foreign company. The share capital of the petitioner company is held by the Government of India, the Government of Maharashtra, the Government of Madhya Pradesh and the foreign company in the percentages of 17, 17, 17 and 49 respectively. The foreign company which held leases of Manganese Mines in india surrendered these leases and fresh leases were granted to the petitioner company. The business of the petitioner company is to extract manganese ore from its mines situated in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and to sell the same. The petitioner company is registered as a dealer both under the central Sales Tax Act and the State Act in Madhya Pradesh. In the course of assessment the petitioner company contended that sales of the total value of rs. 1,46,10,853/- were made in the course of export and were wholly exempt from taxation. It was also contended that certain sales were outside sales and were not liable to be taxed in Madhya Pradesh as inter-state sales. These contentions and some other contentions to which we shall later refer, in so far as they were negatived by the Regional Assistant Commissioner, have been reiterated before us. We shall, hereinafter deal with these contentions one by one. Sales in the course of export :

(3.) ONE of the sales which the petitioner company claimed to be an export sale was made directly to a foreign purchaser, M/s. Philips Brothers on f. o. b. terms and this was accepted to be a sale in the course of export by the assistant Commissioner and, therefore, no question regarding it arises before us. The remaining sales alleged to be in the course of export will be considered hereinafter.