Transferee liability for sales tax arrears requires transfer of the entire business, not merely sale of land or assets.

Liability for a transferor's sales tax arrears under section 9(1) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954 arises only where the dealer's business is entirely transferred, not where only part of the assets or landed property is sold. On the facts stated, the transfer deed did not show transfer of the running business, stock-in-trade, goodwill, credits or debits, and the authorities themselves treated the transaction as a sale of land only. The purchase was for consideration and preceded notice of recovery proceedings, so it could not be treated as void under section 11AAA. In the absence of any finding fixing liability under section 9(1), attachment and recovery against the transferee's personal properties were unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether tax arrears due from the transferor could be recovered from the petitioner as transferee under section 9(1) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954, and whether the transfer of property could be treated as void under section 11AAA of the Act.

Analysis: Liability under section 9(1) arises only where the ownership of the business of the dealer is entirely transferred, and not merely when some assets or part of the undertaking are sold. The transfer deed did not show transfer of the running business, its stock-in-trade, goodwill, credits and debits, and the respondent authorities themselves proceeded on the footing that only the landed property had been sold. In addition, the petitioner's purchase was for consideration and before notice of the recovery proceedings, so the transfer could not be treated as void under section 11AAA. Most importantly, no finding was recorded by the assessing or recovery authority that the petitioner was liable under section 9(1) before proceeding against his personal properties.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not liable for the transferor's tax arrears under section 9(1) on the facts found, and the attachment and recovery steps taken against him were unsustainable.

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