Hire-purchase deemed sale under sales tax law upheld, with vehicle attachment sustained despite retained title and disputed instalments.

Delivery of goods under a hire-purchase or instalment arrangement is treated as a sale under the deeming provision in Explanation I to section 2(n) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957, even if title is retained as security for payment. On that basis, the transaction was regarded as a transfer of property for sales tax purposes, and the absence of the petitioner's name in the registration certificate did not establish ownership in the petitioner. The hire-purchase terms and alleged non-payment of instalments did not displace the statutory consequence. The attachment in revenue recovery proceedings was therefore upheld and the writ petition failed.

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Issues: Whether a vehicle delivered under a hire-purchase arrangement is to be treated as a sale by virtue of Explanation I to section 2(n) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957, and whether the attachment of the vehicle in revenue recovery proceedings was valid.

Analysis: Explanation I to section 2(n) deems delivery of goods under hire-purchase or any other instalment system to be a sale, even though title is retained as security for payment. On that basis, the Court treated the transaction as involving transfer of property to the second respondent for purposes of the sales tax law. The absence of the petitioner's name in the registration certificate and the material on record did not establish ownership in the petitioner. The hire-purchase terms and alleged non-payment of instalments did not alter the statutory consequence under the deeming provision.

Conclusion: The attachment was held to be valid and the writ petition was dismissed.

Final Conclusion: The statutory deeming provision controlled the character of the transaction, and the challenge to the attachment failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute deems delivery of goods under hire-purchase or instalment payment to be a sale, retention of title as security does not prevent the transaction from being treated as a sale for tax purposes.

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