Temple offerings and prasad distribution were not a commercial sale, so the committee was not treated as a dealer.

Cash offerings made by devotees to a temple, followed by the issuance of bhog or prasad, did not constitute a commercial sale transaction under the U.P. Sales Tax Act. The arrangement lacked bargain, negotiation, agreement on quantity, and commercial motive; the offerings were religious gifts to the deity, and the prasad was given as part of worship. Activity incidental to the primary religious function of the temple was therefore not treated as carrying on the business of selling goods. The temple committee was not a dealer within section 2(c) and was not liable on that basis.

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Issues: Whether the assessee-managed temple committee's activity in receiving cash offerings and issuing bhog/prasad constituted a sale and amounted to carrying on the business of selling goods so as to make it a dealer under the U.P. Sales Tax Act.

Analysis: For the assessee to fall within the definition of dealer, it had to be shown that it sold bhog and carried on the business of selling bhog. On the facts found, there was no bargain, no meeting of minds as to quantity, no negotiation, and no commercial motive. The cash given by devotees was a religious offering to the deity, and the bhog given in return was prasad from the temple, not the result of a commercial sale transaction. The activity of receiving offerings and issuing bhog was merely incidental to the primary religious function of worship.

Conclusion: The assessee was not a dealer within the meaning of section 2(c) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act and was not carrying on the business of selling bhog.

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