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Judgment
Ajay Kumar Mittal, J.—This order shall dispose of two civil writ petitions No. 6326 of 1992 and 6349 of 1992 as the issue involved in both the petitions is identical. For brevity, the facts are being taken from CWP No. 6326 of 1992. The petitioner-Mill is carrying on the business of crushing the oil seeds like cotton seeds and mustered seeds, having its factory located at Maur Mandi, District Bathinda. The said oil is sold in the State of Punjab as well as in other states.
According to the averments made in the writ petition, the interstate sales tax on the sale of such oil was 4% but the State of Punjab vide its notification dated 11.01.1979 reduced the Central Sales Tax on edible oils to 1%. The petitioner deposited the Central Sales Tax as 1% on the basis of the aforesaid notification but the assessing authority vide assessment order dated 26.12.1990 held the petitioner liable to 4% Central Sales Tax. The petitioner has impugned the assessment order (Annexure P-1) wherein according to the petitioner, the tax has been wrongly charged at 4% instead of one percent.
The following order was passed on 22.05.1992 at the time of admission of the petition:- Notice. To be heard along with CWP No. 761 of 1991. Operation of Annexure P-1 is stayed subject to furnishing security for payment of the tax within a period of one month.
Learned State counsel relied upon the Division Bench judgment dated 12.09.2011 of this Court passed in CWP No. 761 of 1991 titled as "M/s. Ludhiana Oil & Cotton Ginning Mills vs. Assistant Excise & Taxation Commissioner", in which the following order was passed:
The petitioner is a dealer under the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 and also under Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. The petitioner sold cotton seed oil which is claimed by the petitioner as edible oil fit for human consumption and on which sales tax @ 1% is leviable in terms of notification dated 11.01.1979. Such claim of the petitioner was not accepted by the Assessing Authority, Ludhiana in the orders dated 26.6.1985 and 29.4.1987. It was found that the Central Sales Tax on inter state sales of cotton seed oil other than edible oil fit for human consumption is 4% against ''C'' forms whereas the petitioner has deposited only 1%. The assessment was framed accordingly.
The issue raised in the present petition was also raised in CWP No. 6919 of 1987. The said writ petition was allowed on 18.07.1991 by the learned Single Bench of this Court. But Letters Patent Appeal against the said judgment was accepted by the Division Bench of this Court vide the judgment reported as State of Punjab and Others Vs. Milkhi Ram Oil and Dall Mills, decided on 21.08.1997. It has been held that the cotton seed oil is not edible oil in the hands of dealer. Thus, the issue whether cotton seed oil is not edible oil stands concluded in the case of Milkhi Ram Oil (supra).
In view of the said decision, present petition is dismissed for the reasons recorded in the case of Milkhi Ram Oil (supra).
In view of the above, the present writ petitions are dismissed.