1965 (10) TMI 11 - SC - VAT and Sales Tax

Whether a suit for the refund of sales tax assessed under a provision of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1939 (IX of 1939), declared to be ultra vires the powers of the State Legislature would lie?

Held that:- Article 96 of the Limitation Act prescribes a period of limitation of 3 years for relief on the ground of mistake when the mistake became known to the plaintiff. When did the plaintiffs come to know of the mistake in the present case ? In the plaint it is alleged that the plaintiffs came to know of the mistake when the decision in Gannon Dunkerley's case 2 was pronounced by the High Court of Madras on April 5, 1954. The respondent in the written statement did not deny that fact. The suit was filed on March 23, 1955, which was within 3 years from the date of the said knowledge and, therefore, it was clearly within time under article 96 of the Limitation Act.

In the result, the appeal is allowed