Specially commissioned bronze casts were not sales in the course of trade, so the sculptor was not treated as a dealer.

A sculptor supplying specially commissioned bronze casts to Government was held not to be a dealer because the activity lacked the commercial character of trade or business required by the Act. The bronze casts were treated as works of art made to special order, valued for artistic skill rather than material, and without ordinary market character. On that basis, the transactions were not sales in the statutory sense and were not chargeable to tax. The Court also rejected the contention that the petitioner should be left to the assessing authority, since the notice already disclosed a concluded proposal to tax the supplies.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner, a sculptor supplying specially commissioned bronze casts to Government, was a dealer and whether the transactions constituted sales chargeable to tax under the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1939.

Analysis: A person becomes a dealer only when the activity of buying, selling, supplying or distributing goods is carried on in a commercial sense as part of trade or business. The statutory definition of sale likewise requires a transfer of property in goods in the course of trade or business. The bronze casts were works of art made to special order, having value for their artistic skill rather than for the material used, without any general market or ordinary commercial character. On those facts, the transactions were not in the course of trade or business and did not answer the statutory concept of sale. The alternative contention that the petitioner should be left to the assessing authority was rejected because the notice already disclosed a concluded proposal to treat the petitioner as liable to tax.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not a dealer and the transactions were not sales within the Act; the writ petition succeeded and the assessment was restrained.

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