SHAH, AG. C.J.

1. The respondents are dealers in eggs. They purchase eggs in the State of Kerala and sell them to merchants outside the State.

2. Under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, tax is chargeable on sale of eggs only at the last point of purchase in the State. For the assessment year 1962-63 the Sales Tax Officer assessed the respondents to tax on their turnover in inter-State sales. He held that the sale of eggs being taxable under the State Act, the respondents were liable to pay tax on transactions of sale in the course of inter-State trade under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. Appeals by the respondents to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner and to the Sales Tax Tribunal were unsuccessful. The respondents then moved the High Court of Kerala in a "tax revision". The High Court, following the judgment of this court in the State of Mysore v. Yaddalam Lakshminarasimhiah Setty and Sons ([1965] 2 S.C.R. 129; 16 S.T.C. 231), reversed the order passed by the Sales Tax Tribunal and discharged the order of assessment of the turnover arising out of sale of eggs in the course of inter-State trade. With special leave, the State of Kerala has appealed against the orders passed by the High Court.

3. Counsel for the State contended that the decision of this court in Yaddalam Lakshminarasimhiah Settys case ([1965] 2 S.C.R. 129; 16 S.T.C. 231) proceeds upon the interpretation of section 8, sub-section (2), as it stood before it was amended by Act 31 of 1958 and cannot be regarded as an authority for the true interpretation of section 8 as it stood in the year of assessment after the enactment of the Central Sales Tax Act by the Central Sales Tax (Second Amendment) Act, 1958 (31 of 1958), which came into force in October, 1958. It is not necessary to express our opinion on the contention raised by counsel for the State because the President of India has promulgated on June 9, 1969, the Central Sales Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 1969 (4 of 1969), which dispenses with the necessity to consider the validity of the argument. By section 2 of the Ordinance it is provided :"During the period of operation of this Ordinance, the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act) shall have effect subject to the amendment specified in sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8."

Section 3 provides :

"In section 2 of the principal Act, in clause (j), for the words and determined in the prescribed manner, the words and determined in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder shall be, and shall be deemed always to have been, substituted."

The effect of the amendment is that the turnover for the purpose of the Central Sales Tax Act has to be determined in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the Rules made thereunder. This provision has retrospective operation as from the date on which the principal Act was enacted.

Section 4 provides :

"In section 6 of the principal Act, after sub-section (1), the following sub-section shall be, and shall be deemed always to have been, inserted, namely :-

(1A) A dealer shall be liable to pay tax under this Act on a sale of any goods effected by him in the course of inter-State trade or commerce notwithstanding that no tax would have been leviable (whether on the seller or purchaser) under the sales tax law of the appropriate State if that sale had taken place inside that State."

This section has also retrospective operation.

Section 6 provides :

"For section 9 of the principal Act, the following section shall be and shall be deemed always to have been, substituted, namely :-

9. Levy and collection of tax and penalties. - (1) The tax payable by any dealer under this Act on sales of goods effected by him in the course of inter-State trade or commerce, whether such sales fall within clause (a) or clause (b) of section 3, shall be levied by the Government of India and the tax so levied shall be collected by that Government in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2), in the State from which he movement of the goods commenced :rovided that, in the case of a sale of goods during their movement from one State to another, being a sale subsequent to the first sale in respect of the same goods, the tax shall, where such sale does not fall within sub-section (2) of section 6, be levied and collected in the State from which the registered dealer effecting the subsequent sale obtained or, as the case may be, could have obtained, the form prescribed for the purposes of clause (a) of sub-section (4) of section 8 in connection with the purchase of such goods.

(2) Subject to the other provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder, the authorities for the time being empowered to assess, re-assess, collect and enforce payment of any tax under the general sales tax law of the appropriate State shall, on behalf of the Government of India, assess, re-assess, collect and enforce payment of tax, including any penalty, payable by a dealer under this Act as if the tax or penalty payable by such a dealer under this Act is a tax or penalty payable under the general sales tax law of the State; and for this purpose they may exercise all or any of the powers they have under the general sales tax law of the State, and the provisions of such law, including provisions relating to returns, provisional assessment, advance payment of tax, registration of the transferee of any business, imposition of the tax liability of a person carrying on business on the transferee of, or successor to, such business, transfer of liability of any firm or Hindu undivided family to pay tax in the event of the dissolution of such firm or partition of such family, recovery of tax from third parties, appeals, reviews, revisions, references, refunds, rebates, penalties, compounding of offences and treatment of documents furnished by a dealer as confidential, shall apply accordingly :rovided that if in any State or part thereof there is no general sales tax law in force, the Central Government may, by rules made in this behalf, make necessary provision for all or any of the matters specified in this sub-section.

(3) The proceeds in any financial year of any tax, including any penalty, levied and collected under this Act in any State (other than a Union territory) on behalf of the Government of India shall be assigned to that State and shall be retained by it; and the proceeds attributable to Union territories shall form part of the Consolidated Fund of India."

By section 9 it is provided :

"(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any judgment, decree or order of any court or other authority to be contrary, any assessment, re-assessment, levy or collection of any tax made or purporting to have been made, any action or thing taken or done in relation to such assessment, re-assessment, levy or collection under the provisions of the principal Act before the commencement of this Ordinance, shall be deemed to be as valid and effective as if such assessment, re-assessment, levy or collection or action or thing had been made, taken or done under the principal Act as amended by this Ordinance and accordingly

(a) all acts, proceedings or things done or taken by the Government or by any officer of the Government or by any other authority in connection with the assessment, re-assessment, levy or collection of such tax shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be, and to have always been, done or taken in accordance with law;

(b) no suit or other proceedings shall be maintained or continued in any court or before any authority for the refund of any such tax; and

(c) no court shall enforce any decree or order directing the refund of any such tax.(2) For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that nothing in sub-section (1) shall be construed as preventing any person -

(a) from questioning in accordance with the provisions of the principal Act, as amended by this Ordinance, any assessment, re-assessment, levy or collection of tax referred to in sub-section (1), or

(b) from claiming refund of any tax paid by him in excess of the amount due from him by way of tax under the principal Act as amended by this Ordinance."

Section 10 provides for exemption from liability to pay tax in certain cases. It provides :

"(1) Where any sale of goods in the cause of inter-State trade or commerce had been effected during the period between the 10th day of November, 1964, and the commencement of this Ordinance, and the dealer effecting such sale has not collected any tax under the principal Act on the ground that no such tax could have been levied or collected in respect of such sale or any portion of the turnover relating to such sale and no such tax could have been levied or collected if the amendments made in the principal Act by this Ordinance had not been made, then, notwithstanding anything contained in section 9 or the said amendments, the dealer shall not be liable to pay any tax under the principal Act, as amended by this Ordinance, in respect of such sale or such part of the turnover relating to such sale.

(2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), the burden of proving that no tax was collected under the principal Act in respect of any sale referred to in sub-section (1) or in respect of any portion of the turnover relating to such sale shall be on the dealer effecting such sale."

4. The effect of the Ordinance is to supersede the judgment of this court in Yaddalam Lakshminarasimhiah Settys case ([1965] 2 S.C.R. 169; 16 S.T.C. 231). It is now made clear that even if no tax was leviable under the general sales tax law of the State in respect of intra-State transaction of sale, tax will be leviable on sale of goods effect by a dealer in the course of inter-State trade according to the sale tax law of the appropriate State. By section 9(2) of of the Central Sales Tax Act as modified it is enacted that the authorities empowered to assess, re-assess, collect and enforce payment of any tax under the general sales tax law of the State shall be entitled, on behalf of the Government of India, to assess, re-assess, collect and enforce payment of tax by a dealer under the Act as if the tax payable by such a dealer under the Act was tax payable under the general sales tax law of the State, and for this purpose they may exercise all or any of the powers they have under the general sales tax law of the State. Thereby the procedural law prescribed by the general sales tax law of the State applies in the matter of assessment, re-assessment, collection and enforcement of payment of tax under the Central Sales Tax Act, but the liability to pay is determined by the provisions of the Central Sales Tax Act.The provisions of the Act amended by the Ordinance have retrospective operation. The High Court held that because under the general sales tax law of the State eggs were not taxable except at the last point of purchase in the State, they were not taxable in the course of inter-State sale. But that view cannot now be sustained in view of the provisions of section 6 of the principal Act as amended by the Ordinance. Since the assessment has not been made in accordance with the provisions of the Ordinance which retrospectively amends the provisions of sections 6, 8 and 9 of the principal Act it is necessary to set aside the order passed by the sales tax authorities, the Tribunal and the High Court, and to direct that assessment of tax be made in the manner provided by the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, as amended by the Ordinance.

5. The order passed by the High Court is therefore set aside and the proceedings stand remanded to the Sales Tax Officer to be dealt with and assessment to the sales tax on the turnover of the respondents under the provisions of the Central Sales Tax Act as amended by Ordinance 4 of 1969. The State will pay the costs of the respondents in this court : one hearing fee.

6. Order set aside and case remanded.