Vadilal Dairy International Ltd vs The State Off Maharashtra
2024 Latest Caselaw 23954 Bom

Bombay High Court

Vadilal Dairy International Ltd vs The State Off Maharashtra on 14 August, 2024

Author: K.R. Shriram

Bench: K.R. Shriram

          Digitally
  2024:BHC-OS:12436
          signed by
GAURI   GAURI AMIT
        GAEKWAD
AMIT    Date:
                                                        1/2                   901to906.STR-12-2015.doc
GAEKWAD 2024.08.16
          10:36:06
          +0530                  IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                                     ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION
                                      (901) SALES TAX REFERENCE NO.12 OF 2015
                                                        AND
                                      (902) SALES TAX REFERENCE NO.13 OF 2015
                                                        AND
                                      (903) SALES TAX REFERENCE NO.14 OF 2015
                                                        AND
                                      (904) SALES TAX REFERENCE NO.15 OF 2015
                                                        AND
                                      (905) SALES TAX REFERENCE NO.16 OF 2015
                                                        AND
                                      (906) SALES TAX REFERENCE NO.16 OF 2016
               Vadilal Dairy International Ltd.                      ....Applicant
                               V/s.
               The State of Maharashtra                              ....Respondent
                                                              ----
               Mr. P.C. Joshi for applicant.
               Ms. Jyoti Chavan, Addl. GP for respondent.
               Mr. Sudhir Ghotkar, Deputy Commissioner of State Tax (Legal), Mumbai
               present.
                                                   ----
                                                    CORAM : K.R. SHRIRAM &
                                                            JITENDRA JAIN, JJ.

DATED : 14th AUGUST 2024

P.C. :

SALES TAX REFERENCE NO.12 OF 2015 AND SALES TAX REFERENCE NO.13 OF 2015 AND SALES TAX REFERENCE NO.14 OF 2015 AND SALES TAX REFERENCE NO.15 OF 2015 AND SALES TAX REFERENCE NO.16 OF 2015 AND SALES TAX REFERENCE NO.16 OF 2016

1 Mr. Joshi states that the second question of law referred to this

Court under Section 61 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act has been answered by

Gauri Gaekwad

2/2 901to906.STR-12-2015.doc

a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in M/s. Prasad Power Control Pvt. Ltd.

and Anr. v/s. Commissioner of Sales Tax, Mumbai and Ors. 1 Ms. Chavan in

fairness concurs. Paragraph 40 of M/s. Prasad Power Control Pvt. Ltd.

(Supra) reads as under :

40. The argument advanced on behalf of the Commissioner that Rule 31AA is in consonance with para 2.11 of 1988 GR is also not acceptable, because, in our opinion, Rule 31AA introduced with effect from 24th March 1995 for the first time provides for calculation of CQB by ignoring the exemption provisions contained in the the BST Act / BST Rules, which is contrary to para 2.11 of the 1988 GR. Such a Rule which purports to take away retrospectively the vested rights of the traders who have established their units in the backward areas based on para 2.11 of the 1988 GR must be held to be bad in law to the extent it is made applicable retrospectively.

2 Therefore, References are answered in terms of judgment in

Prasad Power Control Pvt. Ltd. (Supra) in favour of applicant.

3 Since the above answers only question no.2 of the References,

the other questions Mr. Joshi states be kept open to be decided in some

other matter and he is not pressing those questions in these references.

Ordered accordingly.

Reference disposed.

(JITENDRA JAIN, J.) (K.R. SHRIRAM, J.)

1 2011 SCC OnLine Bom 654

Gauri Gaekwad