Export-sale exemption depends on direct privity with the foreign buyer; a mere supplier cannot claim exporter status.

Export-sale exemption under sales tax law is available only where the assessee proves that it was the exporter or had direct privity of contract with the foreign buyer. The contractual documents showed that Rallis India Limited concluded the foreign buyer contract, held the export licence and authority, and assumed the responsibilities and liabilities of the export arrangement. The assessee merely supplied goods to Rallis India Limited for execution of that arrangement, with no direct contractual link to the foreign buyer. On that basis, the assessee was treated as a supplier or agent rather than the real exporter, and the turnover was not eligible for export-sale exemption.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was the exporter in respect of the disputed steel consignments and therefore entitled to exemption as export sales under the sales tax law.

Analysis: The documents showed that the contract with the foreign buyer was concluded by Rallis India Limited, that the export licence and letter of authority were issued in relation to that concern, and that the assessee only supplied goods to Rallis India Limited for execution of the export arrangement. The correspondence, invoices, and contractual terms indicated that Rallis India Limited bore the responsibility and liabilities of the export contract and that there was no direct privity of contract between the assessee and the foreign buyer. On the material on record, the assessee was only an agent or supplier to the real exporter and not the exporter itself.

Conclusion: The assessee was not entitled to export-sale exemption, as the turnover represented sales to Rallis India Limited and not direct export sales to the foreign buyer.

Ratio Decidendi: Export exemption is available only where the assessee establishes that it was the exporter or had direct privity of contract with the foreign buyer; a supplier acting merely as an agent for the real exporter cannot claim the sale as an export sale.

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