Export exemption under Article 286(1)(b) requires an enforceable obligation linking sale and export, not mere cross-border movement.

Sales to Nepal purchasers were not sales in the course of export under Article 286(1)(b) where delivery and payment occurred in Bihar and the buyers themselves carried the goods across the border. The exemption applies only when the sale and export are so integrated that export is occasioned by the sale as part of a single transaction. An enforceable obligation to export, arising from statute, contract, mutual understanding, or the nature of the transaction, must be shown. Mere actual export after a local sale, even with immediate cross-border movement or customs receipts, is insufficient. On the facts stated, the seller completed the sale locally and no obligation to export was established.

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Issues: Whether sales made to Nepal purchasers, where delivery and payment took place in Bihar and the purchasers themselves carried the goods across the border, were sales in the course of export so as to attract the exemption under Article 286(1)(b) of the Constitution of India.

Analysis: The exemption applies only when the sale and the export are so integrated that the export is occasioned by the sale and the two form part of a single transaction. The decisive link is an obligation to export, which may arise from statute, contract, mutual understanding, or the nature of the transaction. Mere actual export after a local sale, even with contemporaneous customs receipts or immediate movement across the border, is not enough unless that obligation is shown. On the facts found, the seller completed the sale in Bihar, had no responsibility for export, and no obligation to export on the part of the buyer was established.

Conclusion: The transactions were not sales in the course of export and were not exempt from sales tax.

Ratio Decidendi: A sale is protected by Article 286(1)(b) only where the export is occasioned by an enforceable obligation connecting the sale and the export as integrated parts of one transaction; actual export alone does not suffice.

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