Acting on these provisions, the Superintendent of Sales Tax, Dhanbrtd, the third respondent J:ierein, issued on March 20, 1956, a notice to the appellant ffi Civil Appeal No. 237 of 1960, under s. 13 of the Act, statin_,,.,g that on information which had come to his possession he was satisfied that the appellant was liable to pay tax for the periods 1952-53, 1953-54 and 1954-55, that it had wilfully failed to register itself under s. 9 of the Act, and it was direct<ld to show cause why penalty should not be imposed. In response to this notice, the appellant appeared before the third respondent and represented that it had only supplied materials in execution of works contract, that there was no sale of any goods or materiftls by it, and that the proceedings for taxing this supply of ma,tol"ials as if they had been sold were illegal. Disagreeing with this contention, the third respondPnt direct.Pd the appellant to produce all its lH>oks, accounts and documents for purposes of a8sessment, and this is quite understandable, as it was his duty to levy tax in accordance with the provisions of the Act. Thereupon, the appellant filed petitions before the High Court of Patna under Arts. 226 and 227 of the Constitution for t.he issue of appropriate writs for qL1ashing the proceedings before the third respondent and for prohibiting further proceedings under the Act as being wholly :incompetent. The grounds put forward in support of the petition were firstly that the State
