Restaurant meal service is not a sale for sales tax when food is supplied as part of hospitality.

Meals served to casual visitors in a hotel restaurant were treated as part of hospitality and service, not as a transfer of property in goods for consideration under the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941. The charging provision applied only to sales, and the customer did not acquire title to the food as goods when consuming a meal in that setting. The form of charging made no legal difference: a lump sum per meal and separate dish-wise billing both remained part of the same service transaction. On that reasoning, the supply of meals was not taxable as a sale under the Act.

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Issues: Whether the service of meals to casual visitors in the restaurant, whether charged as a lump sum per meal or by separate dishes, constitutes a sale liable to sales tax under the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941.

Analysis: The applicable charging provision imposed tax only on sales, and sale meant a transfer of property in goods for consideration. The supply of meals in a hotel restaurant was treated as part of hospitality and service, not as a sale of the foodstuffs themselves. The reasoning followed the earlier view that food served in such settings is consumed as part of the service rendered, and the customer does not obtain title to the food as goods. The distinction between lump sum charges and dish-wise charges made no legal difference because in either case the transaction remained one of service rather than a sale of food.

Conclusion: The service of meals to visitors in the restaurant was not taxable as a sale under the Act, whether the charge was per meal or per dish, and the issue was decided in favour of the assessee.

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