Madhya Bharat Sales Tax Act (30 of 1950), s. 17-Jurisdiction of civil court barred-Scope of the bar.

By Notifications issued by the State Government under s. 5 of the Madhya Bharat Sales Tax Act, 1950, sales-tax was imposed and collected from the appellants. They filed suits for refund of the tax on the ground that it was illegally collected from them being against the constitutional prohibition in Art. 301 and not saved under Art. 304(a). In Bhailal v. State of M.P. [(1960) M.P.L.J. 601], the petitioner therein challenged in a writ petition, the levy of sales tax on the same grounds and the High Court declared the notifications to be offensive to Art. 301 and held that the imposition of tax was illegal. Following that decision, the trial court decreed the suits filed by the appellants. In appeal before the High Court it was conceded by the State that the tax could not be imposed in view of Art. 301, but it was contended that the suits were not maintainable in view of s. 17 of the Act which provides that no assessment made under the Act shall be called in question in any court. The High Court held that the suits were incompetent.