TMI Blog1971 (8) TMI 209X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nder section 20 of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959. Besides publishing newspapers, the petitioner, out of necessity, disposes of waste paper and other materials not required for its main business and which materials were purchased by it in the course of and for its business. Such materials which were sold by the petitioner included unsold newspapers as well. In this context the petitioner made an application under section 7(1) of the Central Sales Tax Act on 24th April, 1965, to the 1st respondent requesting for registration as a dealer, in the prescribed form. The 1st respondent was of the view that the petitioner was entitled to registration as a dealer only in respect of waste paper and sought to exclude from the certificate of registration all other items, and invited objections thereto from the petitioner. After hearing the petitioner, the first respondent registered the petitioner as dealer only in respect of waste papers. The first respondent was of the view that the other goods were not required for the purpose of manufacturing or processing of waste paper for sale. A revision petition to the Deputy Commissioner for Commercial Taxes, Madras Division, was unsuccessful ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a certificate of registration can and should contain, it is necessary to have a short retrospect as to how "newspaper" was dealt with by sales tax laws prior to and after the Constitution of India was enacted. In the pre-Constitution period and under the Government of India Act, 1935, there was a provision in entry 48 of List II of the Seventh Schedule which enabled the levy of sales tax on newspapers and advertisements. The Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1939, which provided for the levy of a general tax on the sale of goods in the State of Madras, defined "goods" in section 2(c) therein as meaning all kinds of movable property other than actionable claims, stocks and shares and securities and including all materials, commodities and articles. Thus, "newspaper" was dealt with as goods and taxed as such under the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1939. The Constitution of India made certain specific provision regarding newspapers. Under item 54, List II, of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India the State has the power to tax a sale or purchase of goods other than newspapers. Under item 92, List I, of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India, the Centre retained such ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, was passed on 21st December, 1956, yet in the definition of "goods" in section 2(d) of the said Act "newspaper" was not excluded. This anomalous position continued till the Central Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1958, was passed which came into effect on 1st October, 1958. It is only in the second amendment to the Central Sales Tax Act that in the definition of "goods" the word "newspapers" was sought to be excluded. Section 2(d) of the (sic) Central Sales. Tax (Amendment) Act, 1958, reads as follows: "'Goods' includes all materials, articles, commodities and all other kinds of movable property, but does not include newspapers, actionable claims, stocks, shares and securities." By way of completion I may add that the definition of "goods" under the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959, was also amended, though it was not necessary, so as to exclude newspapers. I have referred to the above provisions only to gain the impression that at all material times prior to the amendment of the definition of "goods" in section 2(d) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, "newspapers" was included as goods, the sales and purchases in respect of which were liable to t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ent of the provision such as sections 7 and 8 of the Act is abundantly clear. If goods are purchased in the course of inter-State trade and commerce and if they are used in the manufacture or processing of goods for sale by him, then also the dealer in question, provided he is a registered dealer, is entitled to file an application under section 7 and ask for the issue of a certificate of registration including all those ancillary material required by him for the manufacture or processing of the ultimate goods for resale by him. The revenue's contention is that though it is accepted that the petitioner manufactures newspapers and for that purpose all the materials stated by him in his application for registration might be used for the ultimate manufacture of the newspapers, yet in view of the definition in section 2(d) of the Act, the petitioner would not be entitled to the issue of a certificate of registration as prayed for. It is this aspect which is prominently pressed into service by the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes who said that the inclusion of the goods and the class or classes of goods specified in the certificate of registration of the petitioner for use in the manufa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nd dealing with the definition of "dealer" which meant any person who carries on the business of buying, selling, supplying or distributing goods directly or otherwise, expressed the view "that a person to be a dealer within the meaning of the Act need not both purchase and sell goods; a person who carries on the business of buying is by the express definition of the term in section 2(d) a dealer". I am only quoting this for the purpose of showing that the definition in a section of a statute should not be always subject to a wooden interpretation, but sometimes it ought to be liberally understood in accordance with the context in which the defined word appears. As a matter of fact, the learned Government Pleader has no quarrel with the proposition that if specified goods are exempted under the executive fiat then such goods purchased by a registered dealer could be included in the certificate of registration. If this is possible it fails reason, as to why news-print which is undoubtedly goods cannot be so included in the certificate of registration along with the other articles for which a request for such an inclusion was made by the petitioner, if it is common ground that news-p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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