First-point sales tax applies where supervised transfer of goods for consideration is evidenced by sale documentation.

Transfer of property in dismantled scrap and metal for consideration, under a court-supervised arrangement with sale documentation and controlled delivery, constituted a sale for sales tax purposes. The transaction showed weighment, pricing and removal of the goods to the purchaser as the first buyer in the State, so the turnover was liable to assessment at the first point of sale. No infirmity in the assessment order was shown, and the challenge to quashing the assessment failed.

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Issues: Whether the sale of dismantled scrap and metal from the grounded vessel to M/s. Viswanatha Rupa & Company constituted a taxable first sale in the State, and whether the assessment made under the sales tax provisions was liable to be quashed.

Analysis: The arrangement entered into under the supervision of court-appointed Commissioners showed that the petitioner's goods were delivered to the purchaser against an agreed consideration, with weighment, pricing and removal controlled by the court-appointed machinery. The bills of sale and the surrounding transaction records indicated a transfer of property in the goods for consideration, which satisfied the legal character of a sale. On that footing, the purchaser obtained the goods from the petitioner as the first buyer in the State, making the turnover liable to assessment at the first point of sale. No infirmity was shown in the assessment order.

Conclusion: The transaction was held to be a taxable sale at the first point in the State, and the challenge to the assessment failed.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition was not sustainable, and the assessment order was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: Where property in goods is transferred for consideration under a supervised arrangement and the transaction is evidenced by sale documentation, it constitutes a sale liable to first-point taxation under the sales tax law.

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