TMI Blog1957 (9) TMI 40X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ts prior application dated 5th May, 1952, should be treated as having been withdrawn. In the present petition, the Club contends that notwithstanding its letter dated 7th May, 1952, the Sales Tax Officer proceeded to register the Club as a dealer. Thereafter, on 27th May, 1952, the Club wrote again to the Sales Tax Officer pointing out to him that he should not have registered the Club. The certificate of registration which was issued to the Club by the Sales Tax Officer was returned to that officer who did not accept it. On 31st May, 1952, the Sales Tax Officer replied to the Club, saying that the registration of the Club as a dealer had been correctly done. Thereafter, on 18th November, 1952, the Club addressed a letter to the Sales Tax ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... fficer to the Club. Lastly, a final notice under section 12 of the Sales Tax Act was issued on 10th August, 1954, and along with this notice an order of assessment under section 11(4) of the Act was enclosed. This is the background of the present petition in which the petitioner Club contends that the order made by the Sales Tax Officer, assessing the liability of the Club at Rs. 980 and directing the Club to pay that amount, should be quashed. The petitioner challenges the legality of the levy of the sales tax. Now, one of the contentions which the petitioner Club has raised in this application is that it is a members' Club and the members are joint owners of the Club property. All the property of the Club, according to the petitioner, v ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Club. That being so, it is difficult to accept the contention that the provisions which are supplied by the Club to its members are the joint property belonging to all the members. But although Mr. Abhayankar fails in his contention that the property supplied by the Club to its members is the members' property and is, therefore, not sold to the members, he must succeed in his contention that unless it is shown that the Club is a dealer and carries on business as a dealer, there is no liability upon it to pay a tax under the Act. Mr. Abhayankar says, and he is right, that unless the supplies of goods by the Club to its members amount to business as a dealer, there cannot arise a liability upon it to pay a tax. The term "dealer" is define ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed to mean selling or supplying goods in the course of business. If the element of business is excluded from the connotation of the words "selling or supplying goods", when they are used in the context of a society, club or association in the latter part of the definition, a conflict would arise between the two parts of the definition and that must be avoided. It is, therefore, clear that unless the selling or supplying of goods by the Club to its members is done as a business the Club cannot be a "dealer" under the Act. On the other hand, if the Club sells goods or supplies them to its members and does it as a business, it would be a dealer under the Act and it would be illegal for it to carry on that business unless it has been registered ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e order registering it as a dealer was by way of an appeal, a remedy provided by section 22 of the Act. Section 22 of the Act provides that any dealer aggrieved by an original order under the Act may in the prescribed manner appeal to the prescribed authority against such order; and any dealer aggrieved by an order passed in appeal under the Act may appeal to such authority, as may be prescribed, against the order passed by the first appellate authority. Here is, therefore, a case of a twofold specific remedy prescribed under section 22. The first remedy which was available to the Club was to appeal in the prescribed manner to the prescribed authority under the Act, and if the Club felt aggrieved by the order of the first appellate authorit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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