Agency under sales tax law inferred from custody, delivery and payment arrangements for non-resident sellers.

Circumstances suggesting agency under section 14-A of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1939 included the petitioners' receipt of goods from the railway shed, custody and storage of the goods, and delivery to purchasers only after confirmation that the buyers had remitted the price to the non-resident dealers. The petitioners' status as partners in the non-resident firm was also treated as supporting an inference that they were engaged to perform an important part of the sales on behalf of the non-resident sellers. The text then turns to the question whether the additional levy under section 3(2) could be sustained against the petitioners.

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Issues: (i) whether the petitioners, who took delivery of goods from the railway shed, stored them and delivered them to purchasers, were agents of the non-resident seller within section 14-A of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1939; (ii) whether the additional levy of tax under section 3(2) of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1939 could be sustained against the petitioners.

Issue (i): whether the petitioners, who took delivery of goods from the railway shed, stored them and delivered them to purchasers, were agents of the non-resident seller within section 14-A of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1939.

Analysis: The surrounding circumstances showed that the goods were booked to Madras, cleared by the petitioners, kept in their custody and delivered only after assurance that the buyers had remitted the price to the Ahmedabad dealers. The petitioners' own position as partners in the non-resident firm supported the inference that they were engaged to perform an important part of the sales on behalf of the non-resident dealers. The expression

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