Retrospective registration treated buyer as registered dealer, entitling the assessee to deduction on the sale date.

Sales made after an order granting registration, but before the physical issue of the certificate, were treated as sales to a registered dealer where the certificate was given retrospective effect from an earlier date. The Court applied the statutory scheme of registration and the principle that a dealer whose application has been granted with effect from the date of application is to be treated as registered during the intervening period. On that basis, the buyer was regarded as a registered dealer on the sale date, and the assessee was entitled to the deduction.

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Issues: Whether sales made after the order granting registration but before actual issuance of the registration certificate, with retrospective effect from an earlier date, were sales to a registered dealer so as to entitle the assessee to deduction.

Analysis: The Act required a dealer liable to tax to obtain registration and a certificate, but the statutory scheme also contemplated grant of registration on an application in order. The sale in question was made after the registration order had been passed and before the certificate was physically issued, though the certificate endorsed effectiveness from an earlier date. Relying on the governing principle that a dealer whose application for registration has been granted with effect from the date of application is to be treated as a registered dealer during the pendency of the application, the Court held that the buyer must be regarded as a registered dealer on the date of sale.

Conclusion: The sale was to a registered dealer and the assessee was entitled to the deduction. The answer to the referred question was in the affirmative and in favour of the assessee.

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