Central sales tax exemption upheld where no tax was actually collected on inter-State sales during the relevant period.

Exemption under section 10(1) of the Central Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1969 applied to inter-State sales made during the stipulated period where no Central sales tax was in fact collected and the tax could not have been levied or collected. The dealer had the burden under section 10(2) to prove these facts, but the fact-finding authority found that no Central sales tax was collected from customers. Bill certificates, turnover disclosures in returns, and payment to the State did not displace that finding or show separate collection of tax. The dealer was therefore entitled to the statutory exemption from liability to pay Central sales tax.

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Issues: Whether the dealer was entitled to the exemption under section 10(1) of the Central Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1969, for inter-State sales during the specified period on the footing that no Central sales tax had been collected and that such tax could not have been levied or collected.

Analysis: The exemption under section 10(1) applied only where the sale was an inter-State sale effected during the stipulated period, no tax had in fact been collected under the principal Act, and the non-collection was because no such tax could have been levied or collected. Section 10(2) placed the burden of proving these facts on the dealer. The finding of the final fact-finding authority was that the assessee had not collected Central sales tax from its customers. The certificates in the bills, the inclusion of the turnover in returns, and payment to the State did not establish actual collection of tax or defeat the statutory exemption, particularly when no plea or finding supported the theory that tax had been separately collected but not shown in the bills. The court also noted that, after the Supreme Court decision creating the relevant legal position, the assessee could not have collected such tax on the disputed sales and must be taken to have acted under the view that no tax was leviable.

Conclusion: The assessee satisfied the conditions of section 10(1) and was entitled to the statutory exemption from liability to pay Central sales tax.

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