Supreme Court of India· 16 April 2025

How is a State Government's general rule-making power under Section 13(3) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 circumscribed?

STATE OF RAJASTHAN & ORS. v. COMBINED TRADERS

2025 INSC 496 · CIVIL APPEAL NO. 1208 OF 2025
Coram: Abhay S. Oka; Ujjal Bhuyan

🔖 Save this judgment 🔔 Follow s.13(1)(d) Central Sales Tax Act…📬 Get today's judgments

View the original judgment PDFFree to read. To download it — or the LexStreak typeset copy with the headnote and Points of Law — create an account; downloads are part of the Pro plan.

Answer

The State may make rules to carry out the purposes of the Act, but the first part of Section 13(3) requires that such rules must not be inconsistent with the provisions of the Act or with the rules made by the Central Government in exercise of power under Section 13(1).

Headnote

Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 — s.8(1) — s.8(4) — s.13(1)(d) — s.13(3) — s.13(4) — Central Sales Tax (Registration and Turnover) Rules, 1957 — r.12 — Central Sales Tax (Rajasthan) Rules, 1957 — r.17(20) — Declaration in Form C — Cancellation — Rule-making power — Ultra vires — Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 — s.8(4) — s.13(1)(d) — Form and particulars of the declaration — Held: The form of a declaration under Section 8(4) and the particulars it must contain are to be provided by rules framed by the Central Government under Section 13(1)(d). Furnishing that declaration is the condition precedent for the rate under Section 8(1). (¶11, 12) Central Sales Tax (Registration and Turnover) Rules, 1957 — r.12 — No power to cancel Form C — Held further: The Central Registration Rules prescribe the form of declaration but confer no power on any authority to cancel a declaration in Form C, in contrast to the express provision they make for cancelling a certificate of registration. (¶14) Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 — s.13(3), (4) — Limits of the State's rule-making power — Held further: None of the clauses of Section 13(4) empowers a State Government to provide for cancellation of a declaration. Its general power under Section 13(3) is circumscribed by the requirement that State rules not be inconsistent with the Central rules. (¶13, 15) Central Sales Tax (Rajasthan) Rules, 1957 — r.17(20) — Inconsistency with the Central rules — Held further: A State rule permitting cancellation of a declaration in Form C is inconsistent with the Central Registration Rules framed under Section 13(1)(d) and cannot be sustained. Appeal dismissed. (¶16, 18)

In the Court's own words

Paragraph 15Now, coming back to sub-sections (3) and (4) of Section 13, the rule-making power conferred on the State Government under sub-section (4) is for any or all of the specific purposes laid down in clauses (a) to (j). As stated earlier, none of these clauses provide for making a rule to enable the authorities to cancel a declaration in Form C. It is true that under sub-section (3) of Section 13, the State Government has power to frame rules to carry out purposes of the CST Act. However, power of sub-section (3) is circumscribed by its first part which provides that the rules made to carry out the purposes of the CST Act should not be inconsistent with the provisions of the CST Act and the rules made by the Central Government in exercise of powers under Section 13(1) of the CST Act.

Acts & Sections

s.13(1)(d) Central Sales Tax Act, 1956s.13(3) Central Sales Tax Act, 1956s.13(4) Central Sales Tax Act, 1956s.8(4) Central Sales Tax Act, 1956s.8(1) Central Sales Tax Act, 1956s.7(5) Central Sales Tax Act, 1956r.17(20) Central Sales Tax (Rajasthan) Rules, 1957r.12 Central Sales Tax (Registration and Turnover) Rules, 1957Art.226 Constitution of India

One judgment a day. That's the whole habit.

Read the full text of STATE OF RAJASTHAN & ORS. v. COMBINED TRADERS — and get the Supreme Court's output as a five-minute daily read, with plain-language headnotes and the questions each judgment settles.

Create my free account

Free forever plan · 30 seconds · data stays in India

Open the full judgment →

Also decided in this judgment

Under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, may a State Government frame a rule empowering its authorities to cancel a declaration in Form C?Which government has the rule-making power to prescribe the form of, and particulars to be contained in, a declaration under Section 8(4) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956?What is the condition precedent for a dealer to claim the concessional rate under Section 8(1) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956?Do the Central Sales Tax (Registration and Turnover) Rules, 1957 provide for cancellation of a declaration in Form C?What did State of Madras v. R. Nand Lal & Co. lay down about the scheme of Section 13 of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956?If a purchasing dealer's registration is found to be bogus, what statutory route remains open under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956?

Plain-language answer prepared by the LexStreak Editorial Desk — verify against the judgment. Source: Supreme Court of India. Corrections