TMI Blog1969 (5) TMI 47X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... es in the course of import has been rightly rejected by the assessing authority. Unfortunately, though various aspects seem to have been pressed before the High Court by the State of Madras, this notification of August 6, 1955, issued by the Government of India, defining the "customs frontiers" of India, was not brought to the notice of the High Court. - Civil Appeal No. 1462, 1463, 1464, & 1465 of 1967 - - - Dated:- 20-5-1969 - HEGDE K.S. AND GROVER A.N. JJ. A.K. Sen, Senior Advocate (A.V. Rangam, Advocate, with him), for the appellant. R. Thiagarajan, Advocate, for the respondent in C.A. No. 1464 of 1967. K. Jayaram, Advocate, for the respondent in C.A. No. 1465 of 1967. -------------------------------------------------- The judgment of the court was delivered by VAIDIALINGAM, J.- These appeals, by special leave, by the State of Madras, are directed against the common judgment dated July 17, 1963, of the Madras High Court. The short question, that arises for consideration in these appeals, is as to whether the turnover, which was the subject of consideration by the High Court, was liable for sales tax under the Madras General Sales Tax A ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nd also the sales tax and other charges and expenses. The buyers were to retire the shipping documents at least 10 days before the expected arrival of the steamer carrying the timber. The assessee imported two consignments of timber from Rangoon. The value of the first consignment was Rs. 99,098.05. The ship carrying the consignment arrived at the Madras Harbour on October 17, 1957. The assessee got Rs. 1,00,000 from the buyers on October 24, 1957, and retired the documents of title from the bank and handed over the said documents on the same date to the buyers to enable them to clear the goods. All charges and expenses by way of import duty, clearance charges etc., were paid by the buyers on behalf of the assessee. A second consignment reached Madras by ship on December 17, 1957. The assessee obtained from the buyers, on December 23, 1957, the value of this consignment after handing over to the buyers the necessary shipping documents. On these facts both the Commercial Tax Officer as well as the Appellate Assistant Commissioner came to the conclusion that the sales effected by the assessee to the buyers were not sales in the course of import, but were local sales liable to tax u ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... held that the "customs frontier" as laid down by this court does not mean any geographical features like and or coast or limits of territorial waters, but only the operation of the machinery of the customs department consisting of levy and collection of duty and clearance of the goods. The High Court further held that it would be proper to construe the words "customs frontiers" as "customs barriers" in the Central Act. In this view the High Court held that as the sale had been effected by transfer of title to the goods before they entered the customs barrier, the sale was not liable to tax under the Madras Act. On behalf of the appellant-State, Mr. A.K. Sen, learned counsel, urged that the view of the Madras High Court construing the words "customs frontiers" as "customs barriers" in the Central Act was erroneous. According to the learned counsel, on the admitted facts the sales in all these cases had been effected by transfer of the documents of title long after the sales had ceased to be in the course of import. This contention, on behalf of the State, was resisted by Mr. Thiagarajan and Mr. K. Jayaram, appearing for the respondent in Civil Appeals Nos. 1464 and 1465 of 1967, r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a. That Proclamation has been published with the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of External Affairs, No. S.R.O. 669, dated March 22, 1956, and is as follows: "S.R.O. 669.- The following proclamation by the President is published for general information: PROCLAMATION "WHEREAS international law has always recognised that sovereignty of a State extends to a belt of sea adjacent to its coast; AND WHEREAS international practice is not uniform as regards the extent of this sea-belt commonly known as the territorial waters of the State, and consequently it is necessary to make a declaration as to the extent of the territorial waters of India; I, Rajendra Prasad, President of India, in the Seventh Year of the Republic, do hereby proclaim that, notwithstanding any rule of law or practice to the contrary which may have been observed in the past in relation to India or any part thereof, the territorial waters of India extend into the sea to a distance of six nautical miles measured from the appropriate base line." RAJENDRA PRASAD, President." On September 30, 1967, another Proclamation was issued by the President of India and published with the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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