Sales tax concession is person-specific, so later sales by an ineligible dealer remain taxable.

A sales tax concession under the Assam Industries (Sales Tax Concessions) Scheme, 1995 was held to be person-specific and confined to sales by eligible manufacturers of specified goods. The exemption did not attach to the goods themselves or continue for later sales by a non-eligible dealer. As the subsequent seller was not an eligible unit, there was no basis to extend the concession to its transactions, and those sales remained taxable. The claim for exemption was therefore rejected.

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Issues: Whether the sales tax concession under the Assam Industries (Sales Tax Concessions) Scheme, 1995, framed under section 9(4) of the Assam General Sales Tax Act, 1993, attached to the goods for all subsequent sales or only to the eligible manufacturer, and whether the subsequent sales made by a non-eligible purchaser were taxable.

Analysis: The concession scheme exempted sales effected by eligible manufacturers of specified goods. The exemption operated with reference to the manufacturer and not as an attribute of the goods themselves. Since the appellant who effected the subsequent sales was not an eligible unit, there was no basis to extend the exemption to its sales merely because the goods had earlier moved from an eligible manufacturer. The subsequent transactions were therefore liable to sales tax.

Conclusion: The claim for exemption was rejected and the subsequent sales were held taxable.

Ratio Decidendi: A sales tax exemption framed for eligible manufacturers is person-specific and does not run with the goods so as to exempt later sales by an ineligible dealer.

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