Sale in the course of import requires a binding pre-import link between import and ultimate sale; exemption was denied.

Sales were held not to qualify as sales in the course of import because the assessee failed to prove a pre-existing, binding arrangement linking the foreign import to the ultimate buyers. The record showed that terms with individual users were to be settled only after import, and the asserted high-seas sale was not substantiated. On those facts, the Tribunal correctly found no integral connection between import and sale, so the exemption from sales tax was unavailable and no substantial question of law arose for revision.

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Issues: Whether the disputed turnovers represented sales in the course of import and were therefore exempt from sales tax; and whether the Tribunal had erred in rejecting the claim of high-seas sales.

Analysis: Exemption under the sales tax law was available only if the assessee established that the sales were effected in the course of import, with a clear and pre-existing contractual link between the import and the ultimate sale. The materials on record did not show that the goods were imported for and on behalf of the actual users under conditions that bound the assessee to import for those purchasers. The agreement and surrounding documents indicated that the terms of sale to individual users were to be settled after import, and the asserted claim of high-seas sale was not substantiated. The Tribunal's view that the facts did not disclose the necessary integral connection between import and sale was found to be correct, and no substantial question of law arose for revision.

Conclusion: The claim that the disputed sales were sales in the course of import was rejected, and the revision was dismissed.

Final Conclusion: The judgment affirms that, in the absence of proof of a binding pre-import arrangement linking the foreign import to the ultimate sale, the transaction does not qualify for exemption as a sale in the course of import.

Ratio Decidendi: A sale is in the course of import only where there is a demonstrated pre-existing and inextricable link between the import and the sale to the purchaser; absent such proof, the transaction is taxable.

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