State of A.P. Vs. Richwood Products P. Ltd. - Court Judgment

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sales tax - effect of amendment - andhra pradesh general sales tax act, 1957 and andhra pradesh general sales tax (amendment) act, 1989 - whether novopan plywood used in manufacture of doors and windows comes under category of 'flush doors' or it comes under general category of unclassified goods - department contended that it falls under entry 114 - entry 114 introduced after amendment - assessment done before amendment - commodity cannot be classified as item falling under entry 114 - held, considering facts tribunal rightly decided that commodity did not come under entry. - cantonments act[c.a. no. 41/2006]. section 346 & cantonment fund (servants rules, 1937, rules 13, 14 & 15: [h.l. gokhale, ag. cj, p.v. hardas, naresh h. patil, r.m. borde & r.m. savant, jj] jurisdiction of school tribunal constituted under maharashtra employees of private schools (conditions of service) regulations act, (3 of 1978) held, school run by the cantonment board is a primary school and it is not a school recognised by any such board comparable to the divisional board or the state board. the school tribunal constituted under section 8 of the maharashtra act cannot entertain appeals filed under section 9 by the employees working in schools which are established and administered by the cantonment board. teacher employed in the school run by cantonment board being covered under rule 2 (f) of the cantonment fund servants rules, 1937 can file appeal under rules 13, 14 and 15 to authorities provided therein against any order imposing any penalties etc. [deolali cantonment board v usha devidas dongre, 1993 mah. lj 74; 1993 lab ic 1858 overruled]. -- maharashtra employees of private schools (conditions of service) regulations act, 1978 [act no. 3/1978]. sections 9 & 2(21): jurisdiction of school tribunal whether a school run by cantonment board is not a recognised school within the meaning of section 2(21)? - held, the act is enacted to regulate recruitments and conditions of employees in certain private schools and provisions of the act shall apply to all private schools in the state whether receiving any grant-in-aid from the state government or not. private school is defined in section 2(2) of the act as a recognised school established or administered by a management other than the government or a local authority. recognised means recognised by director, the divisional board or state board. thus as far as the first part of the definition of being recognised is concerned, it includes, as stated above, four directors, the divisional boards and four state boards. the second part of this definition which comes after the comma refers to any officer authorised by director or by any of such boards. the question to be examined is whether school run by the cantonment board could be said to be one run by any such boards. a private school has to be recognised by the state or the divisional board or by any officer authorised in that behalf. when this phrase namely: recognised by any officer authorised by the director or by any such boards, is included in the latter part of section 2(21), such boards will be of the level of the state board or the divisional board. the boards referred to in the definition of the word recognised means the boards which deal with education at levels other than that of the level at which primary schools are operating. thus for being recognised, the school has to be recognised by the board and therefore, it has to be operating at a higher level i.e., secondary level. section 2(21) of the act defines the term recognised. the last clause therein is by any of such boards. the term such is defined in oxford dictionary as of the kind or degree indicated or implied by the context. therefore, the term such board will have to mean a divisional board of or the level of divisional board or the state board. the divisional board holds the examination and issues certificates after 10th and 12th standard examinations. the state board advises the state government on policy matters, ensures uniform pattern of secondary and higher secondary education, lays down principles for determining syllabi, prescribes text books, etc. the cantonment board does not discharge any of such duties nor is there any other board or body under the cantonments act discharging any such duties. the duties of the cantonment board are laid down in section 62 and amongst others, clause (xiv) lays down the duties of establishing and maintaining or assisting primary schools only. the cantonment board is not required to enter into the area of secondary education. therefore, school run by the cantonment board is a primary school and it is not a school recognised by any such board comparable to the divisional board or the state board. that being the position, it is not possible to accept it to be a recognised school for being a private school under the act. for the reasons state above, the school tribunal constituted under section 8 of the act cannot entertain appeals filed under section 9 by the employees working in schools which are established and administered by the cantonment board. [deolali cantonment board v usha devidas dongre, 1993 mah.lj 74; 1993 lab ic 1858 overruled]. s. ananda reddy, j.1. the department has filed this tax revision case aggrieved by the order passed by the sales tax appellate tribunal, andhra pradesh, hyderabad, on june 23, 1995 in t.a. no. 317 of 1993.2. this assessment pertains to the year 1987-88. the question before the tribunal was whether novopan plywood used in the manufacture of doors and windows comes under the category of 'flush doors' or it comes under the general category of unclassified goods. it was the contention of the department that since the material used in the manufacture of windows and doors is novopan plywood, it should come under entry no. 114 of the first schedule to the andhra pradesh general sales tax act, 1957. but, the tribunal gave a finding on the ground that the words 'in any other form including flush doors' was added to the entry 114 with effect from february 15, 1989 by the andhra pradesh general sales tax (amendment) act, 1989 (4 of 1989) and when this entry is subsequently introduced, it cannot be said that for the assessment year in question the commodity can be classified as the item falling under entry 114. considering the above facts, the tribunal allowed the appeal filed by the respondent herein, viz., richwood products pvt. ltd., vijayawada. under these circumstances we find no merit in this tax revision case and it is accordingly dismissed.