Tax character depends on the goods' condition at sale; green, wet kachcha naryal qualified as fresh fruit and was exempt.

For sales tax purposes, kachcha naryal was treated as fresh fruit because its character had to be assessed at the time of sale. Sold in a green, wet, raw condition and capable of natural decomposition, it lacked the dryness associated with dry fruit; its later drying and sale as gari ka gola did not change the relevant tax character. It therefore fell within the fruit exemption under Notification No. ST-911/X dated 31 March 1956 and was exempt from sales tax.

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Issues: Whether kachcha naryal is a fresh fruit or a dry fruit for the purposes of sales tax, and whether it is exempt from tax under the relevant exemption notification.

Analysis: Kachcha naryal was found to be sold in a wet and green raw condition, capable of decomposition like other fresh fruit, and without any element of dryness at the time of sale. Its later drying up and sale as gari ka gola did not alter its character at the relevant stage of sale. On that basis, it fell within the category of fresh fruit and attracted the exemption granted by Notification No. ST-911/X dated 31st March, 1956.

Conclusion: Kachcha naryal is a fresh fruit and is exempt from sales tax; the question was answered against the department and in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: For sales tax purposes, the taxable character of goods is determined by their condition at the time of sale, and a commodity sold in green, wet, and non-dry form may be treated as fresh fruit and covered by a fruit-exemption notification.

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