Dealer status under sales tax law requires commercial trading activity; incidental disposal and work-supply transactions do not qualify.

A Cantonment Board is not a dealer under the U.P. Sales Tax Act merely because it occasionally disposes of fallen trees and similar materials or supplies cement, iron and steel to contractors for its own construction work. A dealer must carry on buying or selling as a business, and although the definition of business dispenses with profit motive, the activity must still have the character of a commercial venture akin to trading. The Board's sales were incidental to statutory functions and lacked the systematic, organised nature of a trade. The supply of materials to contractors was treated as procurement for the Board's own works, not a taxable sale transaction.

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Issues: Whether the Cantonment Board was a dealer under section 2(c) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act in respect of sales of fallen trees and other materials and supply of cement and iron to contractors.

Analysis: A person is a dealer only if he carries on the buying or selling of goods as a business. Although section 2(aa) enlarges the concept of business by removing the profit motive requirement, the activity must still bear the character of a commercial activity analogous to that of a trader. The sales of fallen trees and similar articles were only occasional and incidental to the Board's statutory functions, and were not part of any systematic or organised commercial venture. The supply of cement, iron and steel to contractors was also not a sale transaction but a supply for the Board's own construction works.

Conclusion: The Cantonment Board was not a dealer for the relevant transactions and the reference was answered in favour of the assessee.

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