Inter-State sale test: movement of goods must be integral to the bargain, not merely subsequent despatch by the seller.

Turnover from tea sold ex-godown at Coonoor was not shown to be an inter-State sale under the Central Sales Tax Act, because the movement of goods was not an integral part of the sale transaction and was instead found to occur at the buyer's instance after local delivery. Mere despatch of goods outside the State, or the seller's role as consignor in arranging transport, did not by itself convert the local sale into an inter-State sale. The suo motu revisional interference was also unsustainable because the revisional authority did not properly consider the sale conditions and surrounding circumstances before upsetting the appellate order.

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Issues: Whether the turnover arising from tea sold on an ex-godown basis at Coonoor and despatched thereafter to buyers outside the State constituted an inter-State sale liable to tax under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, and whether the suo motu revisional order interfering with the appellate order was sustainable.

Analysis: The decisive test is whether the movement of goods is an integral part of the sale transaction and whether the sale occasions such movement. A sale is not inter-State merely because the seller is shown as consignor or because the seller, after local delivery, renders assistance in arranging transport. On the facts found, the goods were sold ex-godown at Coonoor, title was intended to pass there, and any subsequent movement was at the buyer's instance and not shown to be an essential or inevitable part of the bargain. The revisional authority also failed to consider the relevant sale conditions and surrounding circumstances before disturbing the appellate order.

Conclusion: The transaction was not proved to be an inter-State sale, and the revisional order was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The assessee succeeded and the revisional order was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: A sale is inter-State only when the movement of goods is occasioned by and forms an integral part of the sale transaction; mere subsequent despatch or the seller's role as consignor does not by itself convert a local sale into an inter-State sale.

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