Statutory tax on specified goods requires proof that the dealer was a manufacturer or importer; estimated turnover alone is insufficient.

Tax under section 3-A(1)(e) on poppy seeds could not be sustained because the statutory charge applies only where the dealer is shown to be the manufacturer or importer. Rejection of books of account and estimation of turnover did not, by themselves, prove importation, and no finding was recorded that the assessee had imported the goods. In the absence of material establishing either manufacturing or importing status, the condition precedent for taxing the turnover was not met, and the deletion of the poppy seeds turnover was upheld.

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Issues: Whether turnover relating to poppy seeds could be brought to tax under section 3-A(1)(e) where the assessee was neither found to be a manufacturer nor proved to be an importer.

Analysis: Section 3-A(1)(e) fastens tax on specified goods at the point of sale by the manufacturer or importer. The books of account having been rejected and the turnover estimated, that by itself did not establish that the assessee was an importer of poppy seeds. No finding was recorded by the authorities below that the assessee had imported the goods, and an inference of import could not be drawn merely from rejection of books. In the absence of material showing that the assessee was either a manufacturer or an importer, the statutory condition for taxing the poppy seeds turnover was not satisfied.

Conclusion: The deletion of the poppy seeds turnover was upheld and the revision failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Tax under a provision levying duty at the point of sale by the manufacturer or importer cannot be sustained unless there is material and a finding that the dealer answers one of those descriptions.

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