Inter-State sale nexus requires a buyer-linked movement; depot despatches without a known buyer remain outside CST assessment.

Bulk despatches to depot agents were not inter-State sales under section 3(a) of the Central Sales Tax Act because the movement of goods was not occasioned by any definite contract with a known buyer. The depot agents retained discretion to sell the goods to purchasers after arrival in the other State, and appropriation and ascertainment of the goods occurred only outside Tamil Nadu. In the absence of the necessary nexus between movement of goods and a buyer's contract, the transactions were correctly treated as out-of-State sales and excluded from the assessable turnover.

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Issues: Whether the turnover in question was liable to be treated as inter-State sales under section 3(a) of the Central Sales Tax Act, or as out-of-State sales outside the assessable turnover.

Analysis: The goods were despatched in bulk to depot agents and not to any particular buyer, and the depot agents retained discretion to sell them to purchasers against pending contracts after the goods had reached the other State. The movement of the goods from Tamil Nadu was not occasioned by any definite contract with a known buyer, and the appropriation and ascertainment of the goods took place only outside the State. On these facts, the essential nexus between movement of goods and a buyer's contract required for an inter-State sale was absent, and the transactions were correctly treated by the original assessing authority as out-of-State sales.

Conclusion: The turnover was not taxable as inter-State sales under section 3(a) of the Central Sales Tax Act, and the petitioner was entitled to exemption from inclusion of that turnover in the assessment.

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