New Delhi, Nov. 5 -- A seven-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday held that the question whether states have the legislative competence to impose surcharge on sales tax has become an "academic" issue following the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. Answering a 27-year-old reference in a case emanating from a challenge to Section 5A of Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947 that imposed an additional 10% tax on dealers with annual turnover between Rs.10 lakh and Rs.1 crore and 15% on turnover exceeding Rs.1 crore, the bench unanimously held that the reference has become "infructous". The bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said, "The constitutional entry and the state enactments under which the impu...