TMI Blog1999 (8) TMI 761X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... challenged before the High Court and the challenge succeeded because the State was not able to satisfy the court that the said levy was supported by quid pro quo. It is in this background that the present sub-section (1)(b) of section 49 came to be brought on the statute book, first by way of an Ordinance and then by virtue of an Act, making the collection a tax under entry 54 of List II of the Seventh Schedule. It is too late in the day for the State now to contend once again that the said levy is a fee and not a tax. It may also be noted at this stage that nowhere in the pleadings, material has been placed by the State to satisfy the requirement of levy of fee by showing that there is a reasonable service rendered to the purchasers of sugarcane so as to justify the said levy as a fee. - C.W.J.C. No. 8754 of 1993, C.A. 2611 OF 1997 - - - Dated:- 17-8-1999 - BHARUCHA S.P. AND SANTOSH HEGDE N. JJ. Shani Bhusan, Raja Ram Agarwal, Y.V. Giri, Dushyant Dave, Joseph Vellpally and Rakesh Dwivedi. Senior Advocates. Shri Narain, Sandeep Narain, Ramesh Agarwal, Devrajan, Rabindra Singh, Ms. Anjali, D.N. Goburdhan, Ms. Pinky Anand, Jyoti Saran, Praveen Kumar, Nikhil Sh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... half of the State that the levy of purchase tax under section 49(1)(b) of the Sugarcane Act is a provision to create a separate fund to cover the expenses of the Board and the Council created under sub-section (8) of section 49 of the said Act. Lastly an attempt was made to contend that the levy of purchase tax under section 49 of the Sugarcane Act is, in fact, in the nature of fee and not a tax on purchase. 5.. On the above arguments, the following points arise for our consideration: (a) Whether the two Acts under reference operate in the same field. If so, which one of the two Acts is a special Act. (b) Is the Sugarcane Act an enactment intended solely for the purpose of regulation of supply, production and distribution of sugarcane and the collection of purchase tax under the said Act is only incidental for the purpose of creating a fund for maintenance and functioning of the Board and the Council under the said Act. (c) Whether the levy under the Sugarcane Act is only a fee for the services rendered. 6.. At the outset, it should be borne in mind that both the enactments are legislated under the same entry, namely, entry 54 of List II of the Seventh Schedule which empowe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n respect of that part of the turnover which relates to the period after the commencement of this section. (2) All provisions of this Part relating to the payment, assessment, recovery and refund of the tax shall apply to the payment, assessment, recovery and refund of the surcharge. (3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Part, no dealer mentioned in sub-section (1), who is liable to pay surcharge, shall be entitled to collect the amount of this surcharge. (4) The State Government may, by notification, and subject to such conditions and restrictions, as it may impose, exempt from the levy of surcharge, any goods or class or description of goods. 6.. Charge of additional tax.-Notwithstanding anything contained in sub- section (3) of section/or sections 11, 12, 13 and 21 or in any notification issued thereunder every dealer having a gross turnover exceeding the specified quantum as laid down in section 3 shall, with effect from a date to be specified by the State Government by a notification published in official Gazette, pay an additional tax at such rate, not exceeding two percentum of his gross turnover (excluding the sales or purchase of goods whic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s which are otherwise taxable under the Finance Act. The Sugarcane Act also provides for regulation of production, supply and distribution of sugarcane. Thus, it is an enactment which is specifically meant for the control of the activities of production, supply and regulation of sugarcane, including the levy of purchase tax. So far as the activity of levy of purchase tax on sugarcane is concerned, both the Acts, namely, the Finance Act and the Sugarcane Act operate in the same field. Therefore, the Sugarcane Act being a special Act pertaining to all aspects of the control of sugarcane as well as levy of purchase tax, the same will have to be construed as a special enactment with reference to sugarcane. 12. While determining the question whether a statute is a general or a special one, focus must be on the principal subject-matter coupled with particular perspective with reference to the intendment of the Act. Keeping in mind this basic principles, we will have to examine the provisions of the two Acts to find out whether it is possible to construe harmoniously the provisions of section 4 of the Finance Act and section 49 of the Sugarcane Act. If it is not possible then an effort ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s the same as is contemplated under section 4 of the Finance Act but confined to sugarcane. A perusal of section 49(8) of the Sugarcane Act shows that a part of the amount of purchase tax collected under its sub-section (3) is utilised for the purpose of the Board and the Council as grant but sub-section (8) of section 49 does not, in any manner, indicate that entirety of this collection under sub-section (1)(b) of section 49 is solely earmarked for the purpose of the expenditure of the Board or the Council. A perusal of sections 6 and 9 of the Sugarcane Act clearly shows that the Legislature has made separate provisions for the funds of the Board as well as the Council under the said Act, and only a portion of the collection under sub-section (1)(b) of section 49 is earmarked for these purposes, hence, it is clear that the balance of collection goes to the State exchequer/general fund. So, there is no merit in the arguments advanced on behalf of the State that the collection of purchase tax under sub- section (1)(b) of section 49 is for the purpose of creating a fund for the exclusive use of the Board and the Council created under the said Act. 14.. Last argument advanced by Mr. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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