S C COONDOO AND CO Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this case the petitioner, Messrs S.C. Coondoo and Co., was required by the Superintendent of Commercial Taxes, Patna, to register itself as a dealer under the provisions of the Bihar Sales Tax Act. The case of the petitioner was that it had no place of business or shop or showroom in Bihar though goods were supplied to various parties within the territorial limits of Bihar. The objection of the petitioner was rejected by the Superintendent of Commercial Taxes and it was held that the petitioner should be treated as a dealer liable to registration and payment of sales tax under the. Bihar Sales Tax Act, 1947. The Superintendent of Commercial Taxes made his order on the ground that the petitioner supplied goods in Bihar where the goods were consumed as a direct result of the sale. Thereafter the petitioner made an application under Section 21 of the Bihar Sales Tax Act to the Commissioner of Sales Tax and prayed for a declaration that it should not be treated as a dealer under the Bihar Sales Tax Act firstly because it had no business premises in Bihar and secondly because all the sales effected in Bihar should be deemed to be inter-State sales within the meaning of Article 286(2) of the Constitution. The petition was rejected by the Commissioner of Sales Tax on the basis of the decision of the Patna High Court in Bengal Immunity Co. Ltd. v. State of Bihar A.I.R, 1953 Pat. 87 and also the decision of the Supreme Court in The State of Bombay v. The United Motors (India) Ltd. 1953 S.C.R. 1069.

(2.) Against the order of the Commissioner of Sales Tax, the petitioner applied in revision before the Board of Revenue. The petition was rejected by the Board of Revenue on the 20th of May, 1954, on the ground that no revision lay against the order of the Commissioner passed under Section 21 of the Bihar Sales Tax Act.

(3.) Under Section 25 (1) of the Bihar Sales Tax Act, the Board of Revenue has submitted the following question of law for the opinion of the High Court :- Whether, in the circumstances of the case, the Board has jurisdiction to entertain a petition against the order of the Commissioner of Sales Tax, passed under Section 21 of the Act ?