Integrated export sale through a consortium remains exempt where the consortium acts only as representative and not as purchaser.

A consortium formed only to negotiate and secure export orders did not break the transaction into separate domestic and onward sales where it neither acquired title to the tea, paid for any purchase from members, received sale proceeds, nor acted as buyer in its own right. The members shipped their respective quotas, issued invoices, and received payment directly, so the supply was treated as an integrated export sale by the actual suppliers. On those facts, the sale qualified as a sale in the course of export and was exempt from tax under section 5(2)(a)(v) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941; the assessment rejecting export exemption was quashed.

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Issues: Whether the applicant's supply of tea to the foreign buyer through the Consortium was a sale in the course of export and therefore exempt from tax under section 5(2)(a)(v) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941, or whether the transaction comprised separate sales, one to the Consortium and another by the Consortium to the foreign buyer.

Analysis: The contemporaneous documents showed that the Consortium was formed only to negotiate and procure the export order for the constituent members, that the foreign buyer accepted the offer for the total quantity, and that the letter of credit was directed to be divided among the individual members according to their respective shares. The Consortium did not acquire title to the goods, did not pay consideration for any purchase from the members, did not receive the sale proceeds, and did not function as a buyer in its own right. The members themselves shipped their quotas, drew invoices, and received payment directly. On these facts, the transaction was not split into two independent sales. It was an integrated export transaction in which the Consortium acted only as representative or agent for the members.

Conclusion: The sale by the applicant to the foreign buyer was a sale in the course of export and was not exigible to tax under section 5(2)(a)(v) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941.

Final Conclusion: The assessment orders rejecting export exemption were quashed, the matter was decided in favour of the assessee, and the assessment authority was directed to modify the assessment accordingly.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a consortium acts only as a negotiating representative of constituent exporters, without acquiring title to the goods or receiving sale consideration, the export transaction remains an integrated sale in the course of export by the actual suppliers.

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