JUDGMENT Prakash Krishna, J.
1. The only question involved in the present revision is as to whether State Legislature is competent or not to impose trade tax on old newspapers.
2. The factual scenario is almost undisputed. For the assessment year 1989-90 the Trade Tax Department on the basis of information received levied trade tax on the import of old newspapers. The levy of trade tax has been justified by the department on the basis of Notification No. 5785 dated September 7, 1981. However this order has been set aside by the Tribunal on the short ground that the State Legislature has no legislative competence to impose any such tax on old newspapers.
To appreciate the controversy it is relevant to quote Notification No. 5785 dated September 7, 1981. Entry No. 33 of the said notification has been relied upon by the learned Standing Counsel, which reads as follows:
5. Exemption on the sale and purchase of newspapers have been granted Under Section 4(a) of the Act for the reasons that power to levy trade tax has been conferred on the State Legislature by virtue of entry 54 of List II, State List of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The said entry reads as follows:
54. Taxes on the sale or purchase of goods other than newspapers, subject to the provisions of entry 92-A of List I.
A bare perusal of the aforesaid entry 54 of the State List clearly excludes the power of the State Legislature to levy tax on the sale or purchase of newspapers. Now the question arises as to whether old newspapers will be covered within the meaning of "Newspapers". This controversy has been adjudicated upon by the Supreme Court in the case of Sait Rikhaji Furtarnal v. State of Andhra Pradesh and the Supreme Court has held that "old newspapers" are also newspapers and would be entitled to exemption provided under the Constitution. It has been held that old newspapers when sold as such would be covered by the exemption provided in the Constitution and sale thereof would not be liable to sales tax. In view of the authoritative pronouncement by the Supreme Court no fault can be found in the order of the Tribunal. It is accordingly held that old newspapers continue to be newspapers within the meaning of entry 54 of the State List of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution. To put it differently the State Legislature is not competent to impose sales tax/trade tax on the sale and purchase of old newspapers. I find no merit in the revision. The revision is dismissed accordingly.