1970 (3) TMI 104 - SUPREME COURT

whether sales made by the petitioner of its vehicles from its stock-yards in various States of India can be held liable to be taxed as inter-State trade or commerce as defined in section 3 of the Central Sales Tax Act?

Whether the vehicles which are not actually sold to any customer at Jamshedpur but are sent out from Jamshedpur to the stock-yards of the company in different States of India and from there they are supplied to dealers for sale to consumers can be taken to be inter-State trade in the sense that the movement of the vehicles from Bihar into another State?

Held that:- Appeal allowed. The appropriation of the vehicles was done at the stock-yards through specification of the engine and the chassis number and it was open to the appellant till then to allot any vehicle to any purchaser and to transfer the vehicles from one stock-yard to another. Even the Assistant Commissioner found that on some occasion vehicle had been moved from a stock-yard in one State to a stock-yard in another State. It is not possible to comprehend how in the above situation it could be held that the movement of the vehicles from the works to the stock-yards was occasioned by any covenant or incident of the contract of sale. As regards the so-called firm orders it has already been pointed out that none have been shown to have existed in respect of the relevant periods of assessment. Even on the assumption that any such orders had been received by the appellant they could not be regarded as anything but mere offers in view of the specific terms in exhibit I (the dealership agreement) according to which it was open to the appellant to supply or not to supply the dealer with any vehicle in response to such order.