MOTILAL HAZARIMAL Vs. STATE OF M P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a reference by the Board of Revenue, Madhya Pradesh, under Section 23 (1) of the C. P. and Berar Sales Tax Act, 1947. The questions which are referred to for judgment of this Court are the following:

(2.) THE questions involve the assessment of sales tax on the business carried on by Motilal Hazarimal of Narasingpur during the period 1st November, 1948, to 21st October, 1949. During the proceedings of assessment before the Sales Tax Officer the assessee made a reference to the Sales Tax Commissioner under Section 19 (b) of the C. P. and Berar Sales Tax Act for determining the question whether certain transactions during the above period were sales or not. Those transactions related to financing the purchasers and sellers and taking commission and interest from them, in respect of the coal business done by the assessee. The then Sales Tax Commissioner held that as the assessee merely lent money either to the buyers or the sellers, the transactions did not amount to sales as the property in the goods at no time vested in him. Subsequently, the Sales Tax Officer excluded those transactions from assessment,

(3.) THE successor of the Sales Tax Commissioner who held that the transactions were not sales subsequently called upon the assessee to show cause under Section 22 (5) of the C. P. and Berar Sales Tax Act why the assessment should not be set aside and a fresh assessment made according to law. He was of the opinion that because in respect of charcoal sales prior to 11th April, 1959, the assessee himself had filed a large number of declarations from Bombay merchants showing that they had purchased charcoal from him for household use, the matter required further careful enquiry. In that view he set aside the assessment and remanded the case to the Sales Tax Officer for a fresh assessment according to law.