Report No. 61

3.21. Constitutional Amendment. -

In pursuance of this recommendation of the Taxation Enquiry Commission, the Constitution (Tenth Amendment) Bill1 was introduced in Parliament, and under that Bill Parliament was empowered to formulate by law the principles for determining when a sale or purchase of goods takes place in one of the ways mentioned below:-

(i) outside a State;

(ii) in the course of the import goods into or export goods out of the territory of India;

(iii) in the course of inter-State trade or commerce.

This Bill became the Constitution (Sixth Amendment) Act, which revised Article 286. It may be stated that this power is couched in phraseology which does not compel Parliament to adopt the judicial construction placed on the constitutional power. The power is wide enough to empower Parliament to amplify modify that construction, or to adopt a new one2.

1. The Constitution (Tenth Amendment) Bill actually passed as the Sixth Amendment.

2. See para. 3.69, infra.