TMI Blog1962 (11) TMI 34X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sment in respect of that year was governed by the Travancore-Cochin General Sales Tax Act. Under that Act the assessment was to be made only on the last purchaser in the State. The contention of the petitioner was that he was not the last purchaser and that the purchasers at Alleppey and other places in the Kerala State should alone be treated as the last purchasers for the purposes of levy under the Travancore-Cochin Act. This contention was overruled by the Deputy Commercial Tax Officer, Nagercoil, and also by the Commercial Tax Officer, Tirunelveli. The petitioner's further appeal to the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal, Madras, raising the same question was also not successful. Hence this revision petition has been preferred by the assessee ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sections 4 and 119. They are as follows: "4. Transfer of territory from Travancore-Cochin to Madras.-As from the appointed day, there shall be added to the State of Madras the territories comprised in the Agastheeswaram, Thovala, Kalkulam, and Vilavancode taluks of Trivandrum district and the Shencottah taluk of Quilon district; and thereupon, (a) the said territories shall cease to form part of the existing State of Travancore-Cochin; (b) the territories comprised in the Agastheeswaram, Thovala, Kalkulam and Vilavancode taluks shall form a separate district to be known as Kanyakumari district in the State of Madras; and (c) the territories comprised in the Shencottah taluk shall be included in, and become part of, Tirunelveli distr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... m district, became part of the Madras State and came within the unit of the Kanyakumari district. One thing about which there can be no dispute is that these territories ceased to be part of the former Travancore-Cochin State which itself ceased to exist and the new Kerala State came into being. Now section 119 is the key section and it is the interpretation of that provision which is now debated before us. Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that notwithstanding the formation of the State of Kerala and the merger of part of the erstwhile TravancoreCochin State into the Madras State, the old laws which governed the territories previously in existence as the Travancore-Cochin State should apply and should operate as if no change in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ting from the operation of the Act, in the matter of territorial distribution. Learned counsel for the petitioner relied upon the decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Satyanarayanamurthy v. Income-tax Appellate Tribunal(1) in support of his contention that for purposes of the application of the Travancore-Cochin General Sales Tax Act, the Kanyakumari district must still be deemed to be part of the now defunct Travancore-Cochin State. We do not think that this case lends (1) A.I.R. 1957 A.P. 123. him any assistance. That case raised the question whether the Hyderabad Court Fees Act was applicable to the Telangana area as it was before the States Reorganisation Act after the area became part of the Andhra Pradesh State from 1st Nove ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f the State of Andhra Pradesh, the laws of the State of Hyderabad will be in force in that area as if there was no disintegration of that area of the State of Hyderabad and integration of the same with the State of Andhra Pradesh. The laws in that area would continue to prevail and govern the rights of parties till the competent Legislature or other competent authority otherwise provides." This decision is authority for the position that section 119 of the States Reorganisation Act is a transitory provision which extends and continues the laws prevailing in the merged territories as if there had been no merger at all till Parliament or other competent authority replaces these laws by enacting new laws or by adapting other laws in the Stat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as included in the State of Andhra; that is to say, an order made by the composite State of Madras in relation to the entire area prior to 1st October, 1953, would on and after 1st October, 1953, apply to each of the areas as if it were an order made by the respective States. To hold otherwise would lead to the anomalous position that an order made by the State of Madras would of its own force be valid in the State of Andhra the territory of which has been taken out of the jurisdiction of a law of the Madras State." This decision also emphasises the true position that the formation and reconstitution of States do not abruptly terminate the application of the prevailing laws in the territories. Continuance of old laws until such time as th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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