Single-point sales tax on manufactured mustard oil applies only to the dealer-manufacturer, not a partner selling allotted stock after dissolution.

Under the U.P. Sales Tax Act, a notified single-point levy on mustard oil applied only to the dealer-manufacturer. The firm, as a distinct taxable unit, was the manufacturer when it produced the oil, but on dissolution the stock allotted to a partner and later sold by him in his individual business was not sold by him as the manufacturer in the statutory sense. The sale was therefore not liable to sales tax in the partner's hands, and the assessment was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the sale of mustard oil, which fell to the share of a partner on dissolution of a firm and was later sold by him in his own business, was liable to sales tax as a sale by the dealer-manufacturer under the U.P. Sales Tax Act.

Analysis: Section 3 is the charging provision and section 3-A empowers the State Government to notify single-point taxation on specified goods, including mustard oil manufactured for sale. The notification applied to the manufacturer, but the liability had to attach to the dealer-manufacturer. A firm is a dealer under section 2(c), and section 3-C(1) makes it clear that a firm is a taxable unit distinct from its partners. Where the firm manufactured the oil, the firm alone would be the dealer-manufacturer. After dissolution, the oil was allotted to a partner and sold by him in his own new business; he was not the manufacturer in the statutory sense for the notified levy.

Conclusion: The sale was not taxable in the hands of the partner who sold the oil, and the assessment was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: For a notified single-point levy on manufactured goods, tax can be imposed only on the dealer-manufacturer, and a partner who merely receives stock on dissolution and sells it in his individual capacity is not liable as such.

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