Deeming fiction for first sale levy on timber is limited to forest coupe auctions, not Government Timber Depot purchases.

The deeming Explanation to Entry 84 of the First Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act applies only where timber or bamboo is purchased by forest contractors in auctions of forest coupes conducted by the forest department. That statutory fiction is limited and cannot be extended beyond its express terms. Timber purchased from Government Timber Depots is not the same as timber bought in a forest coupe auction, so the conditions for treating the resale as the first sale were not satisfied. On that basis, the Explanation did not apply to the assessee's turnover and the assessment treating the resale as a deemed first sale was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the deeming Explanation to Entry 84 of the First Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 applied to timber purchased from Government Timber Depots, so as to treat the assessee's resale as the first sale liable to single point levy.

Analysis: The levy under Entry 84 turns on whether the sale in question is the first sale in the State. The Explanation creates a limited statutory fiction only in the case of timber and bamboo purchased by forest contractors in auctions of forest coupes conducted by the forest department of the Government. The fiction cannot be extended beyond its expressed terms. A sale of timber from Government Timber Depots is distinct from an auction of forest coupes, and the factual conditions necessary for applying the deeming provision were absent on the finding that the assessee had purchased timber from a depot.

Conclusion: The Explanation did not apply to the assessee's turnover, and the assessment treating the resale as a deemed first sale was not sustainable.

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