Inter-State purchase under section 3(a) can arise from buyer-directed despatch even without an express movement clause.

A purchase falls within section 3(a) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 when it occasions movement of goods from one State to another, even if the contract does not expressly stipulate such movement. The movement may be incidental to the purchase and need only bear a conceivable link with the contract. In an auction of unascertained goods, the contract may arise on acceptance of the bid, with property passing later on ascertainment and unconditional appropriation. On the stated facts, the buyer's instruction to despatch goods from Gujarat to Bombay, followed by segregation, weighment, loading and transit as consignor and consignee, established an inter-State purchase exempt from purchase tax under the Gujarat Sales Tax Act, 1969.

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Issues: Whether the purchase of goods at the public auction, followed by despatch of the goods from Gujarat to Bombay at the buyer's instructions, was a purchase in the course of inter-State trade under section 3(a) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, and therefore not liable to purchase tax under the Gujarat Sales Tax Act, 1969.

Analysis: A sale or purchase falls within section 3(a) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, when it occasions the movement of goods from one State to another. The movement need not be expressly stipulated in the contract of sale; it is sufficient if the movement is in pursuance of, incidental to, or otherwise bears a conceivable link with the contract. In an auction of unascertained goods, the contract may come into existence on acceptance of the bid, while property may pass later on ascertainment, weighment, and unconditional appropriation to the contract under the Sale of Goods Act, 1930. The material facts showed that the buyer, though outside Gujarat and having no business place in the State, instructed the seller after the auction to despatch the goods to Bombay, and the goods were thereafter segregated, weighed, loaded, and sent as consignor by the railway administration to the buyer as consignee. Those facts established that the movement of goods was occasioned by and was incidental to the contract of purchase. The absence of an express contractual term providing for movement did not prevent the transaction from being an inter-State purchase.

Conclusion: The purchase was an inter-State purchase within section 3(a) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, and was not exigible to purchase tax under the Gujarat Sales Tax Act, 1969.

Ratio Decidendi: A purchase occasions inter-State movement, and falls within section 3(a) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, when the movement of goods is in pursuance of or incidental to the contract and there is a conceivable link between the contract and the movement, even if the contract does not expressly stipulate such movement.

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