Feel-good, literally: No tax on silk sarees

The Delhi High Court has ruled against imposition of sales tax on silk sarees. The order came from a division bench of Chief Justice B C Patel and Justice B D Ahmed, which held that ’silk sarees’ are basically ‘silk fabric’ and not ‘garments made of silk’ and hence could not be subjected to sales tax. ‘‘Merely because it is capable of being worn as a saree,it would not fall within the ambit of the words ‘garments made of silk’. It would remain as ‘silk fabric’,’’ the bench said.

The sales tax department had demanded order/notice to 48 silk saree dealers seeking to reopen their assessment, saying the sarees fell in the category of ‘garments made of silk’ as distinguished from ‘silk fabric’.

Aggrieved by this, the silk saree dealers approached the High Court which quashed the sales tax department’s order.