Tax jurisdiction over DEPB licence sales turned on the buyers' location, requiring a fresh factual finding before assessment.

Tax jurisdiction depended on whether the DEPB licences were sold from Chandigarh to buyers outside Punjab, and the Punjab authorities could not sustain the demand without recording a finding on that material fact. The assessee had specifically challenged the State's jurisdiction, but neither the revisional authority nor the Tribunal examined where the purchasers were located or the tax consequence of that location. The Court therefore set aside the impugned orders and remitted the matter to the revisional authority for a fresh finding on the place of sale and a reconsideration of tax liability. It was also noted that no notice had been issued under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956.

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Issues: Whether the revisional authority and the Tribunal could sustain the tax demand without recording a finding on whether the DEPB licences were sold from the Chandigarh office to buyers located outside Punjab, and whether the matter required reconsideration on that jurisdictional aspect.

Analysis: The record showed that the assessee specifically disputed the jurisdiction of the Punjab authorities on the ground that the DEPB licences were sold from Chandigarh to purchasers in other States. The issue was material because the State's power to tax depended upon whether the transaction fell within Punjab or was otherwise outside its taxing jurisdiction. That factual aspect had not been examined by either the revisional authority or the Tribunal. It was also noted that no notice had been issued under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956.

Conclusion: The impugned orders were set aside and the matter was remitted to the revisional authority to record a finding on the location of the buyers and then decide the tax consequence afresh.

Final Conclusion: The assessee succeeded in getting the existing orders annulled, and the controversy was sent back for a fresh jurisdictional determination.

Ratio Decidendi: A tax demand cannot be sustained where the relevant authority has not recorded a necessary finding on the place and character of the impugned sale, when that finding is central to its jurisdiction to assess the transaction.

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