Tax on packing material requires proof of sale; unsupported assessments can be quashed in writ despite alternative remedies.

Tax on gunny bags used to pack exempt sugar could not be sustained without proof of an express or implied contract of sale and actual transfer of property for consideration. In the absence of material showing that the bags were separately bargained for or that their value was included in the sugar price, the assessment rested on assumption rather than evidence and was arbitrary. The availability of appeal, revision, and reference did not bar writ relief where the levy was alleged to be without jurisdiction and the alternative remedy was inefficacious. The assessment and appellate orders were quashed in certiorari.

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Issues: Whether the value of gunny bags used for packing exempt sugar could be taxed on the footing that there was a sale of the gunny bags, and whether the existence of an alternative statutory remedy barred recourse to writ jurisdiction under Article 226.

Analysis: The availability of appeal, revision and reference under the sales tax law was not treated as an absolute bar to writ relief where the levy was alleged to be without jurisdiction and the remedy was shown to be inefficacious in the circumstances. On the merits, a sale required an agreement to transfer title for money consideration and actual passing of property. In the absence of any express contract, the authorities had to establish an implied contract of sale from the surrounding circumstances. The assessment orders disclosed no material showing that the gunny bags were separately bargained for or that the price of sugar included their value in any ascertainable manner. The authorities proceeded on assumptions and not on evidence capable of supporting an inference of sale.

Conclusion: The levy on the estimated turnover of gunny bags was not sustainable. The assessment orders were arbitrary, without material, and liable to be quashed in writ jurisdiction.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition was allowed and certiorari was issued quashing the impugned assessment and appellate orders, with costs.

Ratio Decidendi: Where taxable sale of packing material is alleged, the revenue must prove an express or implied agreement to sell and cannot sustain assessment on presumption or conjecture; an order made without evidentiary basis is liable to be quashed in certiorari despite the existence of an alternative remedy.

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