Export purchase exemption depends on clear factual proof of nexus with export; incomplete findings required remand for fresh determination.

Purchases of cashew kernels claimed as export-related purchases could be exempt only if the assessee established, through trading accounts, purchase details, export orders, invoices, bills of lading and related records, that the purchases were integrally connected with export under section 5(3) of the Central Sales Tax Act. The records before the assessing and appellate authorities did not contain a proper factual finding on whether the purchases were in the course of export, so the applicability of the earlier precedent could not be decided on the existing material. The matter was therefore remitted for fresh factual determination, with the question of liability under section 5A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act left open for reconsideration.

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Issues: Whether the purchases of cashew kernels claimed by the assessee were purchases in the course of export under section 5(3) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 and, if so, whether they were not liable to tax under section 5A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963.

Analysis: The question turned on whether the assessee had established, on the basis of trading accounts, purchase details, export orders, invoices, bills of lading and allied records, that the purchases were integrally connected with export. The assessment and appellate records did not contain a proper factual finding on whether the purchases were effected in the course of export, and the applicability of the earlier decision depended upon that factual foundation. Since the relevant facts had not been properly ascertained, the matter required fresh examination by the appellate authority.

Conclusion: The issue was left for reconsideration on remand, and the matter was sent back for a fresh factual determination in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: A claim that purchases are exempt as purchases in the course of export must be supported by a clear factual foundation, and where that foundation is missing the matter should be remitted for fresh determination.

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