Transferee liability for unpaid sales tax follows a complete transfer of the running business as a going concern.

Under section 20 of the Bihar Sales Tax Act, transferee liability arises only when the ownership of the business is wholly transferred as a running concern and unpaid tax remains outstanding at the date of transfer. A mere transfer of a factory building or isolated assets is insufficient; the transfer must cover the business as a whole, including essential assets and rights needed to continue operations. On the record, the transfer instruments showed that the entire running plywood factory business passed through successive transfers, and the authorities' findings were supported by relevant material and disclosed no legal error. The petitioner was therefore liable as transferee for the original dealer's unpaid sales tax dues.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner, as a subsequent transferee of the plywood factory business, was liable under section 20 of the Bihar Sales Tax Act, 1947 to discharge the unpaid sales tax dues of the original dealer for the relevant assessment years.

Analysis: Liability under section 20 arises only where the ownership of the business is entirely transferred and the unpaid tax remains outstanding at the date of transfer. The expression "ownership of the business" was construed to mean transfer of the running concern as a whole, including business assets, stock-in-trade, machinery, premises rights, and other incidentals necessary to carry on the business, rather than a mere transfer of the factory building or isolated assets. On the materials in the record, the transfer documents showed that Indian Forest Industries Ltd. conveyed the entire running factory business to Mehta Brothers, including the leasehold rights, machinery, tools, implements, laboratory equipment, motor-boat, furniture, fixtures and office equipment, and the petitioner later received the business from Mehta Brothers in the same complete form. The authorities' findings were based on relevant materials and were not shown to be vitiated by any error of law.

Conclusion: The petitioner was liable as transferee under section 20 of the Bihar Sales Tax Act, 1947 for the unpaid sales tax dues of the original dealer.

Ratio Decidendi: For liability to attach to a transferee under the transferee-liability provision, the department must prove an entire transfer of the running business at each stage of transfer, and a transfer of the business as a going concern carries the unpaid tax liability to the transferee.

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