Deputy Commissioner of Sales Tax (Law), Board of Revenue (Taxes) vs Mohan Jewellery

K.S. Paripoornan, J.—The Revenue is the petitioner. The matter arises under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act. The respondent/assessee purchased old silver ornaments and silver wares, melted them and converted them into katcha silver and sold them as such. The assessing authority brought to tax the purchase turnover of old silver ornaments and silver wares to tax u/s 5A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act. In appeal, the said assessment was affirmed. In second appeal, the Appellate Tribunal held that the purchase tax u/s 6A of the Act is not exigible in the instant case. The appeal filed by the assessee was allowed. The Revenue has come up in revision.

We heard counsel for the Revenue, Mr. Nambiar, as also counsel for the respondent/assessee. It was argued that the Appellate Tribunal was in error in holding that the old ornaments purchased by the assessee do not attract tax u/s 5A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act. There is no substance in this plea. The Appellate Tribunal considered the matter, at length, and observed in para 3 of the order as follows:

...The appellant is not actually selling pure silver bars. What they sell is katcha silver obtained by melting old ornaments which may contain copper, nickel, iron, lead, etc., as impurities. By the process of melting, only the shape of the article is changed. The melting is only a prelude to the process of manufacture ; it is not manufacture as such. A manufacture can be said to take place when the katcha silver obtained by melting the old items is used again for making new ornaments or new wares. In fact, in the case of G. S. Pai and Company, referred to by the State Representative, there was clearly a manufacture of new ornaments. But that is not so in the present case.

The Appellate Tribunal has found, as a fact, that no manufacturing process takes place in the instant case. By the process of melting, only the shape of the article is changed. This is largely a question of fact. On the basis of the above facts, we are of the view that the decision of the Appellate Tribunal that the purchase tax u/s 5A of the Act is not attracted, is justified. The Appellate Tribunal was correct in holding that no question of manufacture is involved in the instant case and so the purchase of old silver ornaments and silver wares will not attract the purchase tax u/s 5A of the Act.

We see no reason to interfere with the decision of the Appellate Tribunal. The T. R. C. is dismissed.