How a simple question of fact gets side tracked

By Vijay Kumar

In the Supreme Court judgement, we are carrying today, the Supreme Court observed,

A simple question of fact has been sidetracked by copious citations.

That is what has happened in this case. The Commercial Tax Officer invoked a fiction; the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes relied upon the doctrine of "finished product", the Appellate Tribunal relied upon surmises; and the High Court on the principle of “implied agreement."

When you want to convert a question of fact into a question of law, all that you have to do is frame the question, “"Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Appellate Tribunal was right in holding that xxxx”