Appeal No 443 of 1957
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated April 25 1955 of the Allahabad High Court in Civil Misc
Case No 261951
C B Aggarwala C P Lal for G Ar
Dikshit for the appellant
section K Kapur and Mohan Behari Lal for the respondent
October 31
The Judgment of Hidayatullah Das Gupta and Shah JJ was delivered by Shah J and the judgment of Das and Ayyangar JJ was delivered by Ayyangar J SHAH J Judge Revisions exercising authority under section 11 of the United Provinces Sales Tax Act XV of 1948 drew up a statement of case and referred to 191 the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad the follow question   Whether the assessee who is a manufacturer and a dealer of non edible oils and who elected the previous year as the basis of his assessment in the assessment year 1948 49 is liable to be assessed at the flat rate of 3 pies per rupee on the whole of the turnover of the previous year or whether he is liable to be assessed at the rates of 3 pies per rupee and 6 pies per rupee on the turnover of the previous year in proportion to the two periods from 1st April to 8th June 1948 and from 9th June 1948 to the 31st March 1949  The High Court answered the question as follows  The applicant company is liable to pay tax for the assessment year 1948 49 on the turnover of the previous year in respect of sales of non edible oils at the flat rate of 3 pies per rupee
 Against the order of the High Court recording its answer this appeal with special leave is preferred
The facts which give rise to the appeal are briefly these  The Modi Food Products Co Ltd hereinafter referred to as  the assessee  manufactures oils edible and non edible in its factory at Modinagar District Meerut State of Uttar Pradesh
The assessee is registered as a dealer under the United Provinces Sales Tax Act XV of 1948
The assessee s year of account commences on June 1 and ends on May 31 next year
For the year of account 1946 47 the assessee s sales of edible and non edible oils amounted to Rs 6302849 7 7
The U P Legislature enacted with effect from April 1 1948 the United Provinces Sales Tax Act XV of 1948 providing for the levy of a tax on sales of certain commodities
This act was amended by Act XXV of 1948 with retrospective operation from April 1 1948
By the Act  assessment year  was defined as meaning the twelve months ending on March 31 and  previous year  was defined as meaning the twelve months ending on the 31st March next preceding the assessment year or if the accounts of the dealer had been 192 made up to a date within the said twelve months in respect of a year ending on any date other than the said 31st March then at the option of the dealer the year ending on the day to which his accounts had so been made up
Turnover  was defined as meaning the aggregate of the proceeds of sale by a dealer
By section 3 a tax at the rate of 3 pies per rupee of turnover was subject to certain exceptions made payable by every dealer in each assessment year whose turn
over in the previous year exceeded Rs 12000 or such larger amount as may be prescribed the Provincial Government was however authorised to reduce the rate of tax on any dealer or class of dealers on the turnover in respect of any goods or class of goods
By section 3 A the Government of U P was authorised to introduce instead of the multiple point scheme of taxation provided by section 3 a single point system of taxation and by notification to declare that the proceeds of sale of any goods or class of goods shall not be included in the turnover of any dealer except to such single point in the series of sales by successive dealers as may be prescribed and if the Government made such a declaration the turnover of the dealer in whose turnover the sale of such goods was included was in respect of such sale to be taxed at such rate as may be specified not exceeding one anna per rupee
By section 7 every dealer whose turnover in the previous year was Rs 12000 or more was directed to submit such return or returns of his turnover of the previous year within sixty days of the commencement of the assessment year in such form and verified in such manner as may be prescribed
By the proviso the Government was authorised to prescribe that any dealer or class of dealers may submit in lieu of the return or returns specified in that section a return or returns of his turnover of the assessment year at such intervals as may be prescribed
Provision was made by the Act for appeals against the order of assessment and revision against the order of the appellate authority
By section 11 the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad was authorised to decide questions of law raised in any case in the course of assessment and 193 referred to it on a statement of the case drawn up by the Revising Authority
By section 24
the Provincial Government was invested with power to make rules to carry out the purposes of the Act and in particular in respect of certain specified matters
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 24 of the Act the Government of U P framed rules
Rule 39 of the U P Sales Tax Rules gave to every dealer an option to submit his return of the turnover of the assessment year in lieu of the return of the turnover of the previous year
A dealer who did not carry on business during the whole of the previous year had no option but was bound to submit his return of the turnover of the assessment year
By r 40 it was provided that every dealer who elected to submit a return of the turnover of his previous year shall within sixty days of the commencement of the assessment year submit to the Sales Tax Officer a return showing his turnover of the previous year
By r 41 it was provided that every dealer whose estimated turnover during the assessment year was not less than Rs 15000 and who elected to submit his return of such year shall before the last day of July October January and April submit to the Sales Tax Officer a return of his gross turnover for the quarters ending June 30 September 30 December 31 and March 31
In exercise of the authority conferred by section 3 A which was incorporated in the Act by Act XXV of 1948 the Government of U P issed the following notification   In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 A of the United Provinces Sales Tax Act 1941 as amended by the United Provinces Sales Tax Amendment Act 1948 the Governor is hereby pleased to declare that with effect from June 9 1948 the proceeds of sale of goods entered in column 2 of the schedule hereto shall not be included in the turnover of any dealer except at the point in the series of sales by successive dealers mentioned in column 4 thereof under the circumstances shown in column 3 thereof
2 The Governor is further pleased to order that 25 194 as from June 9 1948 the rate of tax in respect of the column 5 of the schedule hereto
3 Every dealer by or on whose behalf goods mentioned in the schedule aforesaid are held at the close of the 8th day of June 1948 shall submit a statement showing the quantity and price of such stock and of the stock of such goods held on the 24th day of May 1948 to the appropriate assessing authority by the 30th day of June 1948
 To this notification was appended a schedule which set out the descriptions of diverse commodities the circumstances under Which the turnover was to be calculated  the point of tax and the rate of tax
Item 14 of the schedule was  oils of all kinds excluding edible oils but including Vanaspati  and sales thereof by manufacturers in the U P were liable to tax at the rate of 6 pies per rupee
By virtue of this notification non edible oils became liable to a single point tax as from June 9 1948 at the time of sale by an importer or manufacturer in the United Provinces
The assessee submitted its return for the assessment year 1948 49 on its taxable turnover of the previous year ending on May 31 1947 to the Sales Tax Officer Meerut Range
On the assessee s return the Sales Tax Officer assessed the tax at Rs 116238 12 0 holding that sales of non edible oils for the first 69 days out of the year of the turnover were to be taxed at the rate of 3 pies and sales for the remaining 296 days were to be taxed at the rate of 6 pies per rupee
Against the order passed by the Sales Tax Officer Meerut Range an appeal was preferred to the Judge Appeals Sales Tax under section 9 of the Act
The appellate authority modified the order and directed the assessee to pay tax on non edible oils on the turnover of the previous year at the flat rate of 3 pies per rupee and reduced the tax liability to Rs 108477 0 3
This order of the Judge Appeals was set aside by the revising authority and the order of the Sales Tax Officer was restored
On a direction made by the High Court the revising authority drew up a statement of the case and submitted for opinion a question 195 which in his opinion arose out of the assessment
The High Court re framed the question as set out hereinbefore and answered it in favour of the assessee
By section 3 and section 3 A which are the charging sections the liability to pay sales tax in each assessment year is charged on the total turnover of a dealer
By section 7 read with r 39 the assessee has the option to adopt the turnover of the previous year as the taxable turnover for the year of assessment and if he does so he has to submit within sixty days of the commencement of the assessment year returns showing his turnover for that previous year
If however the assessee adopts the turnover in the year of assessment as his taxable turnover he has to submit returns before the last day of July October January and April his gross turnover for each of the four quarters ending 30th June 30th September 31st December and 31st March
The tax is evidently levied in respect of the year of assessment  it is not levied in respect of the business carried on in the previous year
Again the rate applicable in assessing the tax is the rate in force in the year of assessment
That is clear from the terms of sections 3 and 3 A But the taxable turnover for the year of assessment may except in certain cases not material for the purpose of this appeal at the option of the tax payer be either the turnover of the previous year or of the year of assessment
If the assessee adopts the turnover of the previous year by the provisions contained in section 3 and section 7 and rr
39 and 40 the liability to pay tax arises on the 1st of April and the rate applicable is the rate in force on that date
The liability of the assessee adopting the turnover of the year of assessment arises by virtue of sections 3 and 7 and r 41 at the end of each quarter
When the taxable turnover is based on the turnover of the previous year the tax is assessed on an artificial turnover not related to the actual sales of the year of assessment whereas the levy of tax on a return made on the turnover of the year of assessment is made on actual sales of that year
The tax paid on the turnover of the previous year is not related to the actual sales 196 provision for making adjustments in the liability to tax on ascertainment of the actual turnover at the end of the year of assessment
The Government of the United Provinces had by notification dated June 81948 altered the rate of tax in the matter of various commodities including nonedible oils with effect from June 9 1948
The Sales Tax Officer was right in his view that the levy of tax at the altered rate was not to operate on sales effected before June 9 1948
Initially when the liability of the assessee to pay tax on edible oils for the assessment year arose the rate was undoubtedly 3 pies per rupee on the turnover and the question which falls to be determined is whether by reason of the alteration of the rate and its incidence in the course of the year the assessee became liable to pay tax at the higher rate on a part of the turnover of the previous year and if so on what basis
A tax payer who adopted the previous year s turnover bad under section 7 and r 40 to submit his return within sixty days of the commencement of the assessment year and no provision for submission of any supplementary returns in the case of alteration of rates in the course of the year was made in the Act or the Rules nor was any method provided for retrospective modification of an assessment once made
There were under the Act and the Rules two distinct and clear cut schemes to assess sales tax 1 where the tax payer elected to submit his return based on the turnover of the previous year and 2 where he elected to or was bound by law to submit his return on the turnover of the year of assessment
Under these two schemes the points of time at which liability arose and the turnover on which liability was to be assessed were in their nature not identical
The tax payers paying tax under the first scheme paid it on the turnover of the previous year and at the rate in force after the end of the period and applicable to it
The tax payer paying tax under the second scheme paid tax in quarterly installments based on the previous quarter s actual turnover and at the rate or rates prevalent in the quarter or applicable to it
Was it intended when alteration was made in the rate of tax 197 or its incidence during the course of the year to assimilate these two schemes of taxation so as to permit of a departure from the one to the other  There is no express provision in the Act or in the Rules in that behalf
Nor does the notification suggest that it was so intended
In the case of a dealer who adopts the turnover of the year of assessment for purposes of taxation the application of the notification altering the rate of tax and the incidence of tax does not present any difficulty
The notification enjoins levy of the tax at the altered rate only in respect of sales taking place after the fixed date and all sales which preceded that date are to be taxed at the original rate
In the face of the language employed sales anterior to the date specified could not be affected
The question next arises Is any machinery provided in the Act or the Rules for projecting this division of the year of assessment into the previous year and for apportioning the turnover of that year  Express provision in that behalf there is none  and it is difficult to imply such a provision in the Act
The dates of commencement and closure of the previous year of a tax payer may vary according to the system of accounting adopted by the assessee
The year may commence from any day of any recognised calendar year and the year may not consist of 365 days
The method of antedating by one year the date on which the alteration is made in the rate or incidence will be manifestly inappropriate
The method of division of the turnover proportionate to the period of the assessment year before the alteration of the rate and after such alteration though prospective must be deemed to have been made retrospectively in the previous year and on a day which is removed from the commencement of the year of account by the number of days by which the date of alteration of rate is removed from the commencement of the year of assessment
But the adoption of the turnover of the previous year as the taxable turnover for the year of assessment is itself based on a fiction and in the absence of any express provision either in the Act or the Rules or even in the notification setting out machinery for such 198 a division of the year we are unable to hold that this scheme of a fictional division may be projected into the previous year to make an artificial division of the turnover for imprinting thereon the altered rate of assessment as from the date of the division
Counsel for the State of Uttar Pradesh submitted several hypothetical cases suggesting that by refusing to adopt this method of division of the previous year of assessment for the application of the altered rate several anomalies may arise in working out the liability to tax
He submitted that a person who was not a manufacturer or an importer of goods included in the schedule to the notification under section 3 A may if he has adopted the turnover of the previous year as his taxable turnover be liable even though it was the intention of the Government to absolve him from liability to pay tax
But a tax payer adopting the turnover of the previous year for payment of tax makes his choice voluntarily and subject to the advantages and disadvantages which that step involves
The fact that he may have to pay tax from which persons choosing the alternative method of submitting of return may partially be exempted because of an exemption granted in the course of the year may not in our judgment be a ground for not giving full effect to the provisions of the Act as they stand
In interpreting a taxing statute equitable considerations are entirely out of place
Nor can taxing statutes be interpreted on any presumptions or assumptions 
The court must look squarely at the words of the statute and interpret them
It must interpret a taxing statute in the light of what is clearly expressed it Cannot imply anything which is not expressed it cannot import provisions in the statutes so as to supply any assumed deficiency
Section 18 el
c of the Act which provides for proportionate reduction of tax when in the case of a change or discontinuance taking place in the course of the assessment year of a firm which has been assessed for such year on the turnover of the previous year does not support the contention that an artificial divisions of the turnover of the previous year is intended 199 in cases of alteration of circumstances during the course of the assessment year
It may be noticed that the provision is limited to changes in or discontinuance of the business of a firm in terms it does not apply to individuals
It is not for us to consider why the Legislature has not chosen to make a similar provision in respect of individuals
But the fact that the Legislature has made an express provision dealing with changes or discontinuance of business of firms in the course of the assessment year enabling a reduction proportionately to the tax already paid would be a ground indicating that in cases not governed by that provision no alteration in the liability was permissible when the taxable turnover was based on the previous year s turnover
It is not provided that in giving effect to the alteration of the rate during the course of the year of assessment an artificial division of the turnover of the previous year should in applying the altered rate be made
The Legislature having failed to provide machinery for working out the liability the attempted projection becomes unworkable
A legal fiction must be limited to the purposes for which it has been created and cannot be extended beyond its legitimate field
The turnover of the previous year is fictionally made the turnover of the year of assessment it is not the actual or the real turnover of the year of assessment
By the imposition of a different tariff in the course of the year the incidence of tax liability may competently be altered by the Legislature but for effectuating that alteration the Legislature must devise machinery for enforcing it against the tax payer and if the Legislature has failed to do so the court cannot resort to a fiction which is not prescribed by the Legislature and seek to effectuate that alteration by devising machinery not found in the statute
We are therefore of the view that the conclusion of the High Court is correct
The appeal therefore fails and is dismissed with costs
AYYANGAR J We regret we are unable to agree with the judgment just now pronounced
The facts giving rise to this appeal are briefly 200 theseA company called The Modi Food Products Ltd  amalgamated with the respondent which will be referred to hereinafter as the assessee was during the years 1946  1947 a manufacturer of and dealer in vegetable oils both edible and non edible
During that year there was no legislation imposing any tax on sales
The U P legislature enacted the U P Sales Tax Act in 1948 and the statute received the assent of the Governor and was published in the official Gazette on June 5 1948
Section 1 2 of the Act enacted that it shall be deemed to have come into force on April 1 1948
The appeal is concerned with the liability to sales tax under the Act of the assessee company in respect of the sale of oil effected by the assessee during the period June 1 1946 to May 31 1947 which was the account year of the assessee previous to the first assessment year under the Act1948 49
Section 3 of the Act to quote only the relevant words as it stood at the material time enacted   Section 3
Liability to tax under the Act
Subject to the provisions of this Act every dealer shall pay on turnover in each assessment year a tax at the rate of 3 pies a rupee Provided that i the Provincial Government may by notification in the official Gazette reduce the rate of tax on the turnover of any dealer or class of dealers or on the turnover in respect of any goods or class of goods ii a dealer whose turnover in the previous year is less than Rs 12000 or such larger amount as may be prescribed shall not be liable to pay the tax under this Act for the assessment year
 By the U P Sales Tax Amendment Act 1948 Act XXV of 1948 this proviso was slightly modified and section 3A was inserted in the Act reading as follows  Section 3 A Single point taxation
1 Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 3 the Provincial Government may by notification in the official Gazette declare that the proceeds of sale of any goods or class of goods shall not be included in the turnover of any dealer except at such single point 201 in the series of sales by successive dealers as may be prescribed
2If the Provincial Government makes a declaration under sub section 1 of this Section it may further declare that the turnover of the dealer in whose turnover the sale of such goods is included shall in respect of such sale be taxed at such rate as  may be specified not exceeding one anna per rupee if the sale relates to goods specified below
A list of goods was then set out and nine pies per rupee if it relates to any other goods
 Non edible oil which is the commodity with the sale of which the assessment in the present appeal is concerned is not in the list of goods set out in section 3A and would therefore be covered by the residuary clause of the section
The U P Government issued the following notification dated June 8 1948 under section 3A of the Act  In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 A of the United Provinces Sales Tax Act 1948 as amended by the United Provinces Sales Tax Amendment Act 1948 the Governor is hereby pleased to declare that with effect from June 9 1948 the proceeds of sale of goods entered in column 2 of the Schedule hereto shall not be included in the turnover of any dealer except at the point in the series of sales by successive dealers mentioned in column 4 thereof under the circumstances shown in column 3 thereof 2
The Governor is further pleased to order that as from June 9 1948 the rate of tax in respect of the turnover of the aforesaid goods shall be as entered in column 3 of the Schedule hereto
Every dealer by or on whose behalf goods mentioned in the schedule aforesaid are held at the close of the 8th day of June 1948 shall submit a statement showing the quantity and price of such stock and of the stock of such goods held on the 24th day of May 1948 to the appropriate assessing authority by the 30th day of June 1948 
In the Schedule annexed to this notification nonedible oil of the type dealt with by the assessee was 202 subject to a tax  6 pies per rupee if the same was manufactured in U P Section 7 of the Act as it stood at the date relevant to this appeal enacted   Section 7
Determination of turnover and assessment of tax 1 Subject to the provisions of Section 18 every dealer whose turnover in the previous year is Rs 12000 or more in a year shall submit such return or returns of his turnover of the previous year within sixty days of the commencement of the assessment year in such form and verified in such manner as may be prescribed Provided that the Provincial Government may prescribe that any dealer or class of dealers may submit in lieu of the return or returns specified in this section a return or returns of his turnover of the assessment year at such intervals in such form and verified in such manner as may be prescribed and thereupon all the provisions of this Act shall apply as if such return or returns had been duly submitted under this section
Provided further that the assessing authority may in his discretion extend the date for the submission of the return by any person or class of persons 
Rules were framed by Government inter alia under the power conferred by the 1st proviso just now set out and by rule 39 of the said rules an option was given to dealers to submit returns of their turnover of the assessment year in lieu of the turnover of the previous year
The assessee exercised the option of being assessed on the basis of the turnover of the previous year under section 71 of the Act and in respect of first assessment year after the Act came to force assessment year 1948 49 it filed a return in respect of the turnover of its previous year June 1 1946 to May 31 1947
The total turnover of the assessee during this period was Rs 6302849 7 7
The Sales Tax Officer by his order dated March 12 1949 assessed the turnover in respect of edible oil at 3 pies per rupee
As regards the sale of non edible oil the sales tax officer hold that since the notification set out above under 203 section 3A had come into force as and from June 9 of the assessment year the assessee was liable to be assessed  3 pies per rupee on the turnover during the first 69 days of the year and  6 pies per rupee in respect of the remaining days of the year and he computed the  tax accordingly
The assessee preferred an appeal to the Judge Appeals Meerut Range Meerut against the order of the Sales Tax Officer
This officer allowed the appeal of the assessee and held that the entire turnover was liable to be taxed only at a flat rate of 3 pies per rupee under section 31 of the Act on all oil sold by the assessee edible or non edible
The reason assigned for the order was that on the terms of the notification the new rate of tax could not be applied to sales effected in the previous year which had been opted for the purposes of assessment by the assessee and that so to apply it would be tantamount to giving retrospective effect to the notification which was contraindicated by the terms of the notification itself
The department thereupon moved the Judge Revision who accepted its contention and restored the order of the Sales tax Officer applying the provisions of the notification to the turnover of the assessee
There
after the assessee made an application to the Judge Revision to state a case for the opinion of the High Court under section 11 of the Act as to whether the rate of tax fixed by the notification could be applied to the sales of the commodity which factually took place on or before June 8 1948
This petition having been dismissed an application was filed before the High Court for directing the reference and on this being ordered the following question as reframed by the High Court was referred to it for determination   Whether the assessee who is a manufacturer and a dealer of non edible oils and who elected the previous year as the basis of his assessment in the assessment year 1948 49 is liable to be assessed at the flat rate of 3 pies per rupee on the whole of the turnover of the previous year or whether he is liable to be assessed at the rates of 3 pies per rupee and 6 pies per rupee on the turnover of the previous year in proportion to the two periods from April 1 to June 8 1948 and from to March 31 1949
 204 The learned Judges answered the question in favour of the assessee and held that the notification under section 3A could not apply to determine the rate of tax payable by the assessee on his turnover of the previous year
The present appeal is against this answer by the High Court
As the arguments before us proceeded on practically the same lines as before the High Court it will be convenient if we set out the reasoning by which the learned Judges upheld the asssessee s contention that the notification under section 3A was inapplicable to determine the rate of tax payable by it
The grounds were mainly five 1 The assessee could not be charged at the rates prescribed by the notification unless the new rates operated retrospectively 2 that section 3A which was introduced into the parent Act Act XV of 1948 by the Amending Act XXV of 1948 was not enacted with retrospective effect
Though the charge imposed by section 31 of the Act read with section 71 imposed tax retrospectively as and from April 1 1948 section 3A did not on its terms so operate as and from that date
Hence the liability of the assessee which had become fixed under Act XV of 1948 as it originally stood could not be and Was not varied by section 3A and would not therefore be affected by any notification issued under the last mentioned provision  3 that a notification under section 3A could not have retrospective effect since section 3A itself did not operate of its own force and merely empowered the Government by a notification to effect changes in the law and hence such changes when notified could not operate as from any date prior to the date of the notification  4 Section 3A which used the words  in respect of such sales  contemplated particular sales taking place after the notification issued under it and hence the notification issued under that section could not alter the rate of levy in respect of sales anterior to the date of the notification  5 that the terms of the notification carried out the general scheme of the Act and negatived retrospective operation and that as on its langu age it applied only to sales which took place on or 205 admittedly effected long prior thereto in the previous year the same could not be affected by the enhanced rate of duty
Before proceeding further it must be pointed out that the learned Judges of the High Court were not right in thinking that section 3A was not enacted to operate retrospectively from the commencement of the  parent Act
Section 12 of the Sales tax Amending Act XXV of 1948 which introduced section 3A enacted  It this Act shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st April 1948 and as section 3A was one of the sections of this enactment it would have effect from the earlier date
This inadvertent error however would not affect the central point of the reasoning of the learned Judges
Besides elaborating the other points in the judgment of the High Court learned Counsel for the respondent further pressed upon us that there was no specific provision in the Act for refund or reassessment which would have been present if the levy of a rate with retrospective effect were contemplated by the Act as applicable to the assessees who bad opted for the  previous year turnover  basis of assessment
He pointed out that in the case of those assessees who opted for their being assessed in respect of their turn
over during the assessment year quarterly returns were submitted along with the payment provisionally of the tax due on the basis of that return the final assessment being completed only after the close of the year when the amount due for the year was ascertained and a demand made for the balance due after adjustment of the amounts already paid during the course of the year Rule 41
Obviously in their case no difficulty could arise by reason of any change in the law either in the rate or basis of taxation effected during the year as these would automatically be given effect to in the final assessment
If however changes made in the rate of tax payable during the year were held applicable to those assessees who had opted for the previous year turnover basis necessary adjustments could not be made in their assessment for lack of specific machinery to achieve the same
From this 206 he argued that the scheme of the Act was that in the case of the previous year turnover assessees to use a convenient phrase the tax liability had to be determined on the state of the law as it prevailed on the 1st day of the assessment year and that it got fixed and crystallised on that date and remained unaffected by any changes in the law effected during the course of the assessment year
In view of these additional submissions we consider that it would be convenient to examine the entire argument of learned Counsel for the respondent under three heads into which they naturally fall 1 Does the Act read in conjunction with the Rules framed to give effect to its provisions contemplate any difference being drawn between the basis of the tax liability as distinct from the quantum of the turnover of those assessees who have opted for the previous year turnover and  the assessment year turnover  assessees
2 Is there any sound basis for the contention that the tax liability of the previous year turnover assessees gets crystallised on the 1st of April of the assessment year with the result that such assessees are unaffected by any changes of the law which operate from beyond that date
3 If the above two questions are answered in the affirmative the construction of the notification dated June 8 1948 would not fall for consideration for even if on its language it can apply to the turnover of a period anterior to its issue the notification cannot be given such effect since the same would be against the basic scheme of the Act
If however the answer to the above two questions were in the negative a further point would arise as to whether on the terms of the notification now under consideration the same could on its language apply so as to affect the tax liability of the  previous year turnover assessees
We shall now proceed to examine these submissions
On the scheme of U P Sales tax Act as of every other sales tax legislation in the other Indian States the total tax liability of an assessee is the resultant 207 product of two factors 1 the total of the proceeds of sales effected during a given period universally a year from which are deducted the turnover of the sales of commodities which are exempt from tax for instance under section 4 of the Act whose provisions will be referred to later 2 multiplied by the rate of tax applicable either to the entire turnover or where  different rates are prescribed on sales of different articles such rates in respect of such turnover
The best way to appreciate the scheme underlying the Act would be to ascertain the position at the time the Act was enacted
It received the assent of the Governor and was published in the Gazette on June 5 1948
Section 12 of the Act further enacted that  It shall be deemed to have come into force on April 1 1948 
Except to that limited extent the Act is prospective
The tax is on the  turnover  ie on the total of the sales proceeds of taxable sales and therefore unless there were a taxable sale its proceeds would not enter the pool which goes by the name of  turnover 
As the Act is not retrospective the taxable turnover would normally be the total of the sales effected after the enactment became operative i e from and after April 1 1948 but for the sake of convenience of assessment it enacts by section 71 we have extracted earlier a provision providing an option to dealers who have been in business in the year previous to the taxing enactment to be assessed either on the turnover of the previous year when owing to the absence of the Act their sales were not subject to tax or on the turnover of the current year
But whichever be the turnover adopted the rate of tax or the determination of the particular sale proceeds whose total constitutes the taxable turnover ie after the exclusion of the sale proceeds of the commodities listed in section 4 does not vary
In other words though the figure of turnover might vary between those who have opted for the one or the other mode of assessment due to the volume of the sales no difference is maintained in the Act as regards the incidence of the tax ie either in the principle underlying the computation of the total turnover or in 208 the rate or rates applicable to the sales of particular goods or on the total turnover
This can only be on the premise or implicit assumption that the sales of the previous year are treated by the Act for the purpose of computing tax liability as the sales of the current year a projection forward in point of time
In other words the entire basis underlying the charging provision section 31 read with the option provided by section 71 is that the sales of the previous year are fictionally treated as the sales of the current year for the purpose of the computation of the tax liability
It has to be remembered that in cases like the present during the time when the sales were effected the Act was not in operation and hence the sales were not taxable
But for the purpose of the imposition of the tax liability it is assumed that the sales are taxable and the goods whose sales become taxable are determined on the basis of the provisions of the Act
Thus if in the current year commodities A B and C are exempt from tax they are not to be included in the turnover of the dealer in respect of the previous year in the case of those who have opted for the  previous year turnover  under section 71 and the turnover thus computed is charged at the same rate of tax applicable to transactions of the current year
So far therefore as the express provisions of the Act go no difference is made between the basis of the tax liability of the  previous year turnover  and the  assessment year turnover  assessees and though by reason of the terms of section 71 the quantum of the turnover varies no other variation in the law applicable to the two types of assessees is contemplated
We must therefore start from the premise that the Act does not contemplate any difference in the incidence of the tax and the quantum of tax liability flowing from the choice of either the  previous year  or the  assessment year  as the basis of the determination of the turnover
We should add that learned Counsel for the respondent has not been able to point out any provision in the Act or in the Rules pointing to any such differentiation
It was however submitted that though the statute 209 might not say so in express terms still by reason of the provisions of the Act and the Rules under which the  previous year turnover  assessee had to  or could submit his return within sixty days from the commencement of the assessment year and have his assessment completed immediately thereafter as compared to the  assessment year assessee  whose assessment was completed after the end of the year coupled with the absence of any machinery for re assessment or refunds in the event of any change in the law effected after the commencement of the financial year it had necessarily to be held that the liability of the  previous year turnover  assessee got crystallised as on the 1st of April of the assessment year and that the Act did not contemplate this being disturbed by any subsequent changes in the substantive law relating to assessment during the assessment year
It was said that the tax liability of the dealer who had opted for the  previous year  basis had to be determined on foot of two factors and only two 1 the turnover of the sales of the previous year which is a definite and known figure by the 31st of March of the previous year and 2 the rate of tax on the turnover as it prevailed on the 1st of April of the assessment year when it was said that there was a crystallisation of the liability to tax
It was pointed out that it was possible for an assessee to submit his return on the basis of the  previous year turnover  even on the 1st of April of the assessment year and there being no legal impediment in the way of the figures returned by the dealer being accepted the assessment might conceivably be completed and the tax due demanded and even paid on the 1st of April it sell If this were done it was urged there being no machinery for reassessment or refunds such completed assessment would become final for the year and could not be disturbed thereafter
If this were possible or were actually done in the case of one dealer who had so opted it was urged that it would obviously be anomalous if another dealer who happened to submit his return later and whose assessment was in 27 210 consequence delayed should be subjected to a different law or a different rate of levy
In our opinion this argument breaks on critical examination
Learned Counsel for the respondent to start with asserted that the crystallisation of the tax liability as on the 1st of April of the assessment year was with reference to the law as it factually was on that date and that changes made subsequently even if with retrospective effect to date from the commencement of the year would not affect that liability
This was obviously an untenable contention because if the later enactment or rule was retrospective it must be deemed in the eye of the law to have been in existence and in operation on the earlier date
Though learned Counsel withdrew this extreme argument still the concession that changes effected with retrospective effect to date from the commencement of the assessment year would apply to determine the tax liability even of the  previous year turnover  assessee serves to emphasize that little importance could be attached to the two bases on which  the crystallisation  argument was rested viz  1 the obligation or freedom of the previous year turnover assessee to submit his return and have his assessment completed within sixty days of the commencement of the assessment year and 2 the absence of a specific provision for reassessment and refund
Under the proviso 1 to section 3 which reads  the Provincial Government may by notification in the official Gazette reduce the rate of tax on the turnover of any dealer or class of dealers or on the turnover in respect of any goods or class of goods the State Government could reduce the rate of tax on the turnover of dealers from the standard rate of 3 pies in the rupee under the main part of section 3
It is also not denied that there is nothing in the terms of the proviso to confine the power to effect reductions only prospectively as distinguished from reductions having retrospective effect
If a reduction were effected say in January or February of the year having effect as and from the 1st April preceding on the very argument advanced Counsel for the respondent would 211 have to concede that the reduced rate would govern the liability of even those dealers who were assessed on the basis of their turnover of the previous year
Let us first take a case where such a reduction in the rate is notified to be effective before an assessee submits his return
In such a case the benefit in the reduction of the rate could not be withheld from the previous year turnover dealers even on the theory of  crystallisation  just now referred to
Let us next take the case of a dealer who has submitted his return of the turnover of the previous year on a date anterior to the notification regarding the alteration of the rate
It might be mentioned that in the return submitted by dealers which has to be in Form IV of Appendix F to the rules only the total of the sale proceeds of the sales of the classified items of goods have to beset out but the return does not concern itself with the rate of the tax levied
This latter is a matter with which the assessing authority is concerned when determining the amount of tax payable
If the rates are altered subsequent to the submission of the return but before the assessment is completed on the terms of the charging section which draws no distinction in the incidence of the tax as between the  previous year turnover  group and the  assessment year turnover  dealers the Sales Tax Officer would have to afford every assessee whatever be the basis of this turnover the benefit of the tax reduction
The position reached therefore is that if the change in the rate we have assumed it to be by way of reduction but the argument would equally apply to variation in any kind were effected before the actual assessment it should be given effect to in the case of every assessee for not merely is there no procedural complication in the shape of a need for refund but it would be in accordance with the law and in fact one might go further and say that any other mode of proceeding would not be countenanced by the Act because the statute homologises the basis of the tax whether the turnover is computed on the previous year s or the current year s sales
Next in regard to cases where the change in the law 212 is effected after the completion of the assessment we consider that the submission regarding the absence of machinery for reassessment and refund is not well founded
It is true that there are no provisions specially so designated to meet this contingency here referred to but that is not the same thing as saying that there is a complete absence of machinery
In the first place section 22 of the Act empowers authorities including the assessing officer to rectify any mistake apparent on the face of the record and by such rectification even to enhance the tax liability
If on the premises assumed the variation in the rate of tax would on a proper construction of the Act be applicable to the turnover of the dealer who has opted for the  previous year rule  but the assessment order does not give effect to it it would certainly be a case of an error apparent on the face of the record which would bring the case within the power of rectification
On the analogy of the cases under section 35 of the Income Tax Act 1922 the assessment officer could order rectification in such cases
Even apart from this under a 102 of the Act the dealer or the department as the case may be may apply to the Revising authority for revision of the assessment on the ground that the same is not legal proper or regular
This section enacts  The Revising Authority may in its discretion at any time suo motu or on being moved by the Commissioner of Sales Tax or on the application of any person aggrieved call for and examine the record of any order or proceedings recorded by any appellate or assessing authority under this Act for the purpose of satisfying itself as to the legality or propriety of such order or as to the regularity of such proceedings and may pass such order as he thinks fit The orders which the Revising Authority could pass might either be by way of enhancement or reduction and the subsequent sub sections provide  10 4
The Revising Authority shall not pass any order under sub section 3 adversely affecting any person unless an opportunity has been given to such person to be heard
213 5 If the amount of assessment is reduced by the Revising Authority under sub section 3 it shall order the excess amount of tax if already realised to be refunded
 It is therefore not correct to say that there is no machinery for rectifying errors and for making consequential orders for payment of further tax or for directing refunds and this argument cannot therefore justify the construction contended for by the respondent
In the entire discussion up to now we have proceeded on the assumption that the turnover of  the previous year  of the dealer was a fixed quantity which was finally determined once and for ever on the 31st March of that year and that the problem was merely to find the rate of tax to be applied to this predetermined factor
It will be seen from an examination of the Act that even the factor of the turnover is subject to variation
For instance the first part of section 4 enacts  The provisions of section 3 of this Act shall not apply to 1 the sale of water salt foodgrains milk gur electrical energy for industrial purposes books magazines newspapers and motor spirit as defined in the United Provinces Sales of Motor Spirit Act 1939 and any other goods which the Provincial Government may by a notification in the official Gazette exempt from time to time
 Under this power besides the specified goods the State Government might from time to time exempt other goods from among those whose sale proceeds have to be included in the turnover
If an exemption of that type were granted say in 1948 49 it cannot be contended that the turnover of the dealer who had opted for the  previous year  has to include these sales in the return which he submits in Form IV If by the date of the submission of the return the exemption has been notified and has effect for the entire year of course he need not include these sale proceeds in his return
The computation therefore of the quantum of turnover of the previous year on which tax has to be levied is one which is subject to the law 214 in relation to it in the assessment year and any change in that law presents the same problems as the variation in the rate of tax
Up to now the discussion has proceeded on the basis that a change in the law made in the assessment year whether as regards the computation of the turnover or as to the rate of levy is effective throughout that year ie from the 1st April to the 31st March and it is found that the fact that the returns of the previous year turnover dealers are required to or are submitted within the early part of the year or the contention based on the absence of specific machinery for reassessment or refund are an insufficient basis for holding that a change in the law affecting the basis of tax liability would not affect the previous year turnover assessees and that the machinery provided by sections 10 and 22 are adequate to meet the contingencies arising out of the changes being retrospectively effected after the assessments were completed
We shall next proceed to consider whether the change in the law either as regards the computation of the taxable turnover or as regards the rate of tax becoming operative sometime after the year has commenced makes any difference
In the case of the assessment year turnover  dealers there is no problem because the sales effected during the course of the year would be governed by the law applicable from time to time
The entire basis or theory of the tax being levied on foot of the previous year s turnover is that notwithstanding that factually the sales took place in the previous year they are to be deemed by fiction to have taken place in the year of assessment
If that theory be discarded there could be no legal foundation for the tax being levied by the Act even as originally enacted on a sale which factually took place before it was operative
The only question therefore is the precise scope of that fiction and its logical implication
If the sale in the previous year is treated by the Act as a sale in the present year then no principle is contravened if it were held that sales during a portion of the previous year are held to be sales during a corresponding portion of the current 215 year
If we reject the argument that it is only the law as prevailed on the 1st April of a year that forms the basis for the computation of the turnover and for the ascertainment of the tax liability as not flowing from the provisions of the Act and indeed as contrary to the very scheme underlying the enactment the changes in the law effected during the course of the assessment year must operate even in respect of the turnover of the previous year which are deemed to be the turnover of the assessment year
It now remains to deal with the question as to whether the language employed in the notification by which only sales effected after a date specified in the assessment year are to be governed by the new levy precludes the application of the notified change to those dealers whose sales were actually effected in the previous year but who had opted for the  previous year turnover  basis of assessment
The argument of learned Counsel which found favour with the learned Judges of the High Court was briefly this
The notification expressly states that only sales effected from and after June 9 1948 were to be charged with the new rates
In terms therefore the change in the law is wholly prospective
If so one cannot by any line of reasoning reach the conclusion that the new rates of levy applied to sales as by the present respondent more than a year earlier
So stated the reasoning appears impressive and it is true that a taxing enactment cannot be construed as levying a charge unless the words clearly do so
But the words have always to be understood and more than that applied with reference to the underlying basis of the scheme of taxation
So applied it does not appear to us to support the contention of the respondent
The change in the rate of tax was no doubt prospective
The phraseology employed merely means that in the case of the  assessment year turnover  dealers only the sale proceeds of sales effected after the specified date would be governed by the new rates
In the case of the  previous year turnover  dealers the change operates to determine the amount of tax during their assessment year just in the same manner as 216 the original charge under the Act of a flat rate of three pies determined the tax payable notwithstanding that none of the sales whose proceeds were included in their turnover were effected during the assessment year
We have already pointed out that the basic idea underlying the provision contained in section 71 of the Act is that it projects the turnover of the previous year into the assessment year
Admittedly the Act itself is not retrospective or designed to levy the charge under section 31 on sales effected before April 1 1948
If sales of the previous year are brought within the taxing provision it is not because the sales when they took place were subject to tax but because either a the previous year s sales are deemed in law when the assessee so opts as the sales of the current year or b the previous year s turnover being opted the provisions of the charging sections operate on that turnover
Whichever of these be the more accurate method of expressing the result the fact is that there is no element of retrospectivity at all involved in the application of the tax law which prevails in the year of assessment to the turnover of the previous year when due to the choice of the assessee of being assessed under section 71 the previous years  turnover basis is rendered applicable
Possibly the matter may be tested in this manner
Section 31 of the Act the charging section imposes in effect a tax of three pies per rupee on all sales effected after the commencement of the Act ie after April 1 1948
pose that section itself had by a proviso imposed a tax  six pies per rupee on all sales of edible oil effected on and after June 9 1948
Could it then be open to argument that in respect of the previous year s sales only a three pies tax was payable and that the result of the charging provision could be ignored
If therefore we are right so far the respondent derives no advantage from the notification specifying the dates of sales effected from and after which they would be subject to the varied rate
The notification had necessarily to be worded as it was in order to fulfil its primary purpose of effecting a change in the rate during the assessment year
The date 217 mentioned in the notification as the date from and after which sales would be charged at the new rates would therefore not militate against the new rates being applied to the turnover of the previous year since the turnover of the previous year has to be assessed on the rates prevailing in the assessment year
The next question is how on the terms of the notification which came into operation after the commencement of the assessment year and during the course of it the proportion of the turnover on the basis of which the tax liability of a previous year s turnover dealer could be computed
Learned Counsel for the respondent urged that no intelligible basis could be suggested for distinguishing the two periods in the previous year when the original rates and the altered notified rates would operate
Learned Counsel urged that it would be impossible to distinguish these two periods either on any theory of retrospectivity of the notification or on any theory regarding the sales of the previous year being attributed to the corresponding dates of the current year
There is no doubt that this mode of computing the proportion viz to treat the sales which were effected on various dates of the previous year as if they were sales on the corresponding dates of the current year and thus to compute the two totals of turnover which would be subject to different rates of duty would not be proper
The impropriety would arise from the fact that the fiction enacted by section 71 is not that each day s sale in the previous year is deemed to be a sale on the corresponding date in the current year but only that the total taxable turnover of the previous year is deemed to be that of the current year
The method to which objection is taken is however not the manner in which the Sales tax Officer computed the proportion which was affirmed by the Judge Revision
If the total of the sale proceeds of the previous year is deemed to be the total of the current year there is no illogicality or impropriety in dividing that total in accordance with the number of days in the year in which the different rates prevailed and that is precisely what the Sales tax Officer did
28 218 If as we hold both the computation of the turnover of the previous year as well as the incidence of the tax leviable on it are to be determined not merely by the law as it stood on the first day of the assessment year but by the law applicable to assessments during the entire assessment year the method by which the tax liability of the respondent was computed by the Sales tax Officer is not open to any objection
In connection with the interpretation of the notification a minor point was suggested to which brief reference might be made
It was submitted that as the notification in effect levied a tax if it was ambiguous it should be resolved in favour of the subject the tax payer
We see no ambiguity in the notification to justify an appeal to this rule
Besides the notification in effect frees dealers other than importers and manufacturers of all tax liability in respect of the sale turnover of oil though in the case of two specified classes of dealers
a single point tax at an enhanced rate is levied
In such a situation the rule of construction invoked could hardly be applied even if the condition as to ambiguity were present
We therefore hold that the assessment to sales tax of the respondent company by applying to its turnover of the year 1947 48 the rate of tax specified in the notification of June 8 1948 as determined by the Sales tax Officer was in accordance with the law
We would accordingly allow the appeal set aside the decree of the High Court and restore the assessment order of the Sales tax Officer with costs here and in the High Court
BY COURT
In accordance with the opinion of the majority the appeal is dismissed with costs


Summary:
The appellant who was an elected member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly gave notice of his intention to put certain questions in the Assembly and on those questions being disallowed by the Speaker published them in a journal called Janamat of Ghatal his own constituency
The first respondent who was then the Sub Divisional Magistrate of Ghatal and whose conduct was the subject matter of some of those questions filed a complaint against the appellant and two others the editor and the printer and publisher of the janamat under sections 500 and 501 of the Indian Penal Code
The appellant pleaded privilege and immunity under article 194 of the Constitution as a bar to criminal prosecution
The trial Magistrate as also the High Court found against him
On appeal by special leave it was claimed on his behalf that he had an absolute privilege under article 194 of the Constitution to publish the disallowed questions and could not be prosecuted therefor
Held that the claim of immunity under article 194 of the Constitution must be negatived
Clause 1 of article 194 had no application since the matter was clearly outside the scope of that clause
Clause 2 of that Article was also inapplicable since it was not the case of the appellant that the publication was under the authority of the Legislative Assembly and it could not also be said that it came within the expression  anything said or any vote given  in that clause
The publication of a disallowed question by a member of the Assembly does not come within the powers privileges and immunities enjoyed by a member of the House of Commons and consequently cl
3 of article 194 also cannot be of any help to the appellant
The immunity enjoyed by a member of the House of Commons is clearly confined to speeches made in Parliament and does not extend to the publication of the debate outside
If he publishes his speech made in the House separately from the rest of the proceedings of the House he is liable for defamation in caseit is defamatory
Abingdon s case Espinasse s Reports Nisi Prius 1793 1810 228 and Creevey s case I Maule and Selwyn s Reports King s Bench 1813 1817 273 referred to
487 There is no absolute privilege attaching to the publication of extracts from the proceedings in the House of Commons and a member who has absolute privilege in respect of his speech in the House itself can claim only a qualified privilege in respect of it if he causes the same to be published in the public press
Quaere Whether publication of parliamentary proceedings not authorised by the House stands on the same footing as the publication of proceedings in a court of law
Wason vs Walter 1868 69 LR 4 QB 73 referred to
M section M Sharma vs Sri Krishna Sinha 1959 SUPP
1 SCR 806 distinguished
Dr Suresh Chandra Banerjee vs Punit Goala  referred to