TMI Blog1964 (8) TMI 52X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to manufacture for sale inside the State, shall be at the rate of only one per cent. on the turnover relating to such sale: Provided that the provisions of this sub-section shall not apply to any sale unless the dealer selling the goods furnishes to the assessing authority in the prescribed manner a declaration duly filed in and signed by the dealer to whom the goods are sold containing the prescribed particulars in a prescribed form obtained from the prescribed authority. Explanation.-For the purposes of this sub-section, 'component part' means an article which forms an identifiable constituent of the finished product and which along with others goes to make up the finished product." It may be also worthwhile to mention that by Act 44 of 1961, which came into force subsequent to the order of assessment in this case, the explanation above extracted was added to sub-section (3) of section 3. The view of the Joint Commercial Tax Officer, the assessing authority, was that "radio cabinet" was an accessory within the meaning of serial number 5 in Schedule I aforesaid, but it would not be a component part to attract the benefit of the lower rate of 1 per cent. tax under section 3(3 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s General Sales Tax Rules, 1959. There was a failure to comply with the said rule and in the absence of any provision to condone the omission or delay, the assessee was not eligible to the reduced rate of one per cent. Therefore, the Board of Revenue set aside the Appellate Assistant Commissioner's order and restored the order of the Joint Commercial Tax Officer. From this decision of the Board of Revenue, the assessee has filed the present appeal before us. Learned counsel appearing for the appellant urged that the Board of Revenue while it confirmed the finding that radio cabinet was an accessory to a radio falling within serial number 5 of the First Schedule, however erred in holding that it cannot form a component part of a radio within the meaning of section 3(3) of the Act. He refers to the meaning of the term "component" given in various well-known dictionaries. Thus, Chambers' Dictionary defines "component" as one of the parts or elements of which anything is made up, or into which it may be resolved. Oxford Dictionary defines "component" as a constituent part or element. There can be very little doubt that a finished radio set (which is the meaning to be given to the wor ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... radio cabinet was a component part of a radio, it would be assessed at 7 per cent. Learned counsel for the assessee contends that during the prior years the radio cabinets were not assessed at the higher rate of 7 per cent. and that only when the notice was sent to her on 24th May, 1961, did she become aware that the assessing authority proposed to assess the turnover in radio cabinets at 7 per cent. Acting on the notice, and on the direction therein to obtain the signature of the assessee in lieu of the signature of her husband, the assessee made out another return containing substantially the same particulars as in the earlier return and enclosed thereto a declaration in Form XVII which she had obtained in the meantime. The contention of the assessee is that the declaration sent in the above circumstances along with the rectified second return, must be deemed as a valid return with proper enclosures, for the purpose of levy of the lower rate of tax. Learned counsel for the assessee also referred to a decision of the Kerala High Court in Abraham v. Sales Tax Officer(1), which held that the words "prescribed manner" in section 8(4) of the Central Sales Tax Act in regard to the s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... emplated by the Act or the Rules. Unless the return was accompanied by the declaration in the prescribed manner the transaction ceased to fall within the scope of section 8(1) of the Act. Learned counsel for the assessee pointed out that the present case can be distinguished from the Bench decision on the ground that this is not a case where the delay in filing the declaration form has to be excused or condoned. What the Appellate Assistant Commissioner did in the case was to treat the second return filed by the assessee after the original return was sent back to him for rectification of a defect in substance as the original return itself. The enclosure to the return thus submitted after rectification was treated by him as an enclosure to the original return itself. This procedure is one which is adopted in several other analogous procedures for receiving documents like a plaint in a suit, or memorandum of grounds in an appeal. Such plaints or memos of appeal are often returned for rectifying some defect or other, and when they are re-submitted with the defect rectified, the plaint or appeal memo so returned is treated as taking effect from the date of the original presentation. An ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... was condoned, either expressly or even impliedly, the assessing authority had the jurisdiction to accept it as the basis of assessment after verifying the correctness of the return." To a similar effect is the view of the Andhra High Court in State of Andhra Pradesh v. Pyarelal Malhotra[1962] 13 S.T.C. 946 at p. 951., where the learned Judges observed: "Though the assessee could not claim as of right to have the delay condoned in the submission of the return, it was competent for the taxing authority to excuse the delay in the exercise of its discretion and make the assessment on the basis of it." These decisions, which refer to the power of condonation of delay vesting in the assessing authority, have not been taken into consideration in the decision of this Court in Deputy Commissioner (Commercial Taxes), Coimbatore v. Parekutti Hajee Sons[1962] 13 S.T.C. 680. Further, we have already pointed out in that case, the question of condonation arose before the Tribunal after the assessee had failed to submit the proper enclosures to his return both before the assessing authority as well as before the appellate authority; but the question dealt with in the two decisions mentioned a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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