Commercial identity test treats assembled wet grinders as separately taxable goods, not a mere second sale of taxed components

Separate components already taxed do not remain the same commodity when assembled into a commercially distinct end-product. The Tribunal applied the test of whether the combination merely preserved the identity of the parts or created a new article with independent market value, use and identity. As the fitted motor and grinder body together produced a usable domestic wet grinder for sale, the assembled product was treated as a new commercial commodity and not a mere second sale of the original parts. The levy was therefore upheld and the challenge to the tax demands failed.

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Issues: Whether the assembled wet grinder made by fitting a motor to the grinder body is a new commercial commodity liable to tax, or whether it remains the same goods so as to qualify as a second sale and escape further levy.

Analysis: The wet grinder body and the motor were separately purchased from registered dealers and had already suffered tax, but their combination produced a usable wet grinder intended for domestic use and sale in the market. The controlling test was whether the combination merely preserved the original identity of the parts or brought into existence a commercially distinct article. The Tribunal preferred the line of authority holding that where assembly results in a product having a different commercial value, use, and market identity, the end-product is separately taxable, even if the constituent parts had earlier suffered tax. Applying that principle, the assembled wet grinder was treated as distinct from its component parts and not as a mere continuation of the same commodity.

Conclusion: The assembled wet grinder is a new commercial commodity and is liable to tax. The claim that it is only a second sale was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The petitions challenging the levy failed, and the tax demands on the wet grinders were sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where separate components, each already taxed, are combined to create a commercially distinct and usable end-product with an independent market identity, the end-product is separately taxable and cannot be treated as a mere second sale of the original components.

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