TMI Blog1990 (9) TMI 306X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ad by his letter dated March 28, 1990 (in L. Dis. No. A4/3904/89) so as to bring the same in conformity with the judgment of the Supreme Court in Deputy Commissioner of Sales Tax v. G.S. Pai Co. [1980] 45 STC 58; AIR 1980 SC 611. It is stated in the writ petition that the members of the 1st petitionerassociation are manufacturers of reinforced cement concrete pipes also known as R.C.C. pipes or hume pipes and asbestos cement pressure pipes (ACP pipes). The members of the said association are all said to be registered dealers under the provisions of the A.P. General Sales Tax Act, 1957 and the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. It is further stated that the Chief Engineer, Rural Water Supply, Hyderabad (respondent 1) and the Chief Engineer, Pu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f the Supreme Court in Deputy Commissioner of Sales Tax v. G.S. Pai Co. [1980] 45 STC 58; AIR 1980 SC 611, above referred to. It is stated that in several cases the dealers had to approach the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal for obtaining the relief. As things stood thus, the 3rd respondent has issued a clarification dated March 28, 1990, to the 1st respondent in reply to a letter by the latter dated November 20, 1989, stating that the various items mentioned in his letter in column 2 are exigible to the sales tax mentioned in column 3. The two items which are relevant for purposes of the present writ petition are those at serial Nos. 3 and 4 of the said letter of the Commissioner. Serial No. 3 referred to reinforced cement concrete pipes (R ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ase. It is, in fact stated in the counter that even as per the abovesaid judgment, pipes which are not taken "underground" for supply of water, still fall within the words "water and sanitary fittings" in entry 102 of Schedule I. It is also argued that this Court should not decide this question at this stage when the Act provides adequate remedies for ascertainment of the facts. Normally, this Court does not decide hypothetical questions. But here, the petitioners contend that the Commissioner's wrong clarification to the Chief Engineer will only compel the petitioners to resort to the taxation authorities on this question and that the Commissioner cannot interpret the Supreme Court decision as being in favour of the Revenue when, in fact ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... preme Court in State of U.P. v. Indian Hume Pipe Co. Ltd. [1977] 39 STC 355; AIR 1977 SC 1132. Pipes which are used for purposes of lavatories, urinals or bath-rooms fall under this limited category. So far as pipes used for conveying water such as the G.I. pipes are concerned, it was pointed out in Deputy Commissioner of Sales Tax v. G.S. Pai Co. [1980] 45 STC 58 (SC); AIR 1980 SC 611, that, if the G.I. pipes were heavy and intended to be laid underground for carrying supply of water from one place to another, they would obviously not be "sanitary fittings". However, it was argued for the Revenue in G.S. Pai's case [1980] 45 STC 58 (SC); AIR 1980 SC 611, that even if these heavy G.I. pipes did not come under the heading "sanitary fitting ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... area or place to another must have been laid underground for being treated outside the expression "water...fittings". In our view, the said assumption is incorrect. The Supreme Court, in our view, has held in the abovesaid case that, the words "water supply........... fittings" take their colour in the context of the words "sanitary fittings", that the word "fittings" suggested that it was referable to articles or things which are fitted or fixed to the floor or walls of a building and the said word may, in a given case, include even articles or materials fitted or fixed outside, provided they could be considered as "attached or auxiliary" to the building or part of it. The Supreme Court categorically pointed out that the entire expressi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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