Sadiq Bakery etc. v. State of A.P. & Ors.
Case brief
What is this about?
Sadiq Bakery Etc. v. State of A.P. & Ors.; Supreme Court of India, 24-11-1987; Sabyasachi Mukharji, J. (with S. Ranganathan, J.); W.P.(C) Nos. 5117/81 et al.; sales tax and surcharge on bread, rusk and bun vs biscuits; differential rates; Schedule I Item Nos. 117 and 129; A.P. Sales Tax Act 1957; homogeneous class; Article 14 equality/classification; Article 19(1)(g); multiple point tax; excise duty and sales tax on same items; taxable events different; surcharge; economic wisdom of a tax within exclusive domain of legislature; capacity to pay increases with receipts; rationality; commonsense; social justice; Hoechst Pharmaceuticals v. State of Bihar [1983] 3 SCR 130; Nalla Raja Reddy [1967] 3 SCR 28; New Manek Chowk [1967] 2 SCR 679; Annapurna Biscuit [1975] 35 STC 127; writ petitions dismissed; no costs; interim orders vacated.
What did the court decide?
The economic wisdom of a tax or lack of it is within the exclusive domain of the legislature; the only question for the Court is whether there is legislative rationality in that capacity to pay the tax increases by and large with an increase of receipts - a rational, commonsense proposition consonant with the social justice committed to by the Constitution.