Golli Krishnamurthy and Sons Vs. Commercial Tax Officer No. Iv, Vijayawada and ors. - Court Judgment

SooperKanoon Citationsooperkanoon.com/429168
SubjectSales Tax
CourtAndhra Pradesh High Court
Decided OnApr-04-1988
Case NumberWrit Peition No. 449 of 1984
JudgeI. Panduranga Rao and ;P.A. Choudary, JJ.
Reported in[1990]79STC394(AP)
ActsAndhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 - Sections 8
AppellantGolli Krishnamurthy and Sons
RespondentCommercial Tax Officer No. Iv, Vijayawada and ors.
Appellant AdvocateS. Dasaratharama Reddi, Adv.
Respondent AdvocateThe Government Pleader for C.T.
Excerpt:
sales tax - primary authorities - section 8 of andhra pradesh general sales tax act, 1957 - writ petition filed for issuance of a writ of mandamus to declare that certain items fall within expression cotton fabrics under item 5 of fourth schedule - question whether goods fall within scope and meaning of cotton fabrics is primarily a question that should be decided by authorities under act - question can only be reviewed by high court as a last resort on ground of errors apparent on face of record or want of jurisdiction - petition aimed to prevent proper functioning of tribunal - petition dismissed. - - 2. it is perfectly clear that this writ petition has been filed in utter abuse of process of this court.p.a. chowdary, j.1. this writ petition has been filed for the issuance of a writ of mandamus to declare that the tarpaulins, canvas cloth and waterproof cloth fall within the expression 'cotton fabrics' under item 5 of the fourth schedule to the andhra pradesh general sales tax act, 1957, and hence were always and are now exempt from sales tax under section 8 of the a.p. general sales tax act and restraining the first respondent from levying or collecting tax on the sale of the said goods effected from 9th june, 1983 onwards. 2. it is perfectly clear that this writ petition has been filed in utter abuse of process of this court. the question whether these goods fall within the scope and meaning of 'cotton fabrics' in item 5 of the fourth schedule to the andhra pradesh general sales tax act is primarily a question that should be decided by the authorities under the act. this writ petition has been filed in the year 1984, without the primary authorities, the appellate authorities and the revisional authority acting under the act having any opportunity to decide this matter. this is not at all the scope of any proceedings under article 226 of the constitution. the question whether these goods are accessible to tax or not is a question which depends upon both facts and law and such questions should be allowed to be decided by the primary authorities and can be reviewed by this court only in the last resort on the ground of errors apparent on the face of record or want of jurisdiction. this is not at all a case where any of those two conditions are present. in our opinion, this writ petition is aimed only to prevent the functioning of the tribunal according to the provisions of the andhra pradesh general sales tax act. 3. the mission of article 226 is to promote the working of the regular statutory machinery and not to obstruct it. we do not see any merit in this writ petition. it is accordingly dismissed with costs. advocate's fee rs. 250. 4. we direct that the petitioner will be liable to pay 12 per cent per annum interest on the amount of tax levied against him from the date the tax would have been levied but for the proceedings which have been pending in this court from 1984 onwards. writ petition dismissed.
Judgment:

P.A. Chowdary, J.

1. This Writ petition has been filed for the issuance of a writ of mandamus to declare that the tarpaulins, canvas cloth and waterproof cloth fall within the expression 'cotton fabrics' under item 5 of the Fourth Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957, and hence were always and are now exempt from sales tax under section 8 of the A.P. General Sales Tax Act and restraining the first respondent from levying or collecting tax on the sale of the said goods effected from 9th June, 1983 onwards.

2. It is perfectly clear that this writ petition has been filed in utter abuse of process of this Court. The question whether these goods fall within the scope and meaning of 'cotton fabrics' in item 5 of the Fourth Schedule to the Andhra pradesh General Sales Tax Act is primarily a question that should be decided by the authorities under the Act. This writ petition has been filed in the year 1984, without the primary authorities, the appellate authorities and the revisional authority acting under the Act having any opportunity to decide this matter. This is not at all the scope of any proceedings under article 226 of the Constitution. The question whether these goods are accessible to tax or not is a question which depends upon both facts and law and such questions should be allowed to be decided by the primary authorities and can be reviewed by this Court only in the last resort on the ground of errors apparent on the face of record or want of jurisdiction. This is not at all a case where any of those two conditions are present. In our opinion, this writ petition is aimed only to prevent the functioning of the Tribunal according to the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh General sales Tax Act.

3. The mission of article 226 is to promote the working of the regular statutory machinery and not to obstruct it. We do not see any merit in this writ petition. It is accordingly dismissed with costs. Advocate's fee Rs. 250.

4. We direct that the petitioner will be liable to pay 12 per cent per annum interest on the amount of tax levied against him from the date the tax would have been levied but for the proceedings which have been pending in this Court from 1984 onwards.

Writ petition dismissed.