Bank lockers under effective bank control are not goods; restricted locker access is only a licence, not transfer of right to use goods.

Bank lockers embedded in a safe deposit vault and kept under the bank's effective control are not "goods" for U.P. trade tax purposes because the constitutional and statutory meaning of goods contemplates movable property. Customer access to such lockers, limited by the bank's strong-room control, master key and security restrictions, does not amount to exclusive possession or free and unfettered control. The arrangement is therefore a licence to use a secured facility with incidental security services, not a transfer of the right to use goods, and it also does not constitute a works contract. On that basis, assessment proceedings and notices based on taxability were unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether bank lockers rented to customers are "goods" within the meaning of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948, and whether the arrangement amounts to a transfer of the right to use goods so as to attract tax under Section 3-F of the Act.

Analysis: The expression "goods" in Article 366(12) and Article 366(29-A)(d) of the Constitution and in the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 contemplates movable property. The lockers in question formed part of a safe deposit vault embedded in the earth and were used in a fixed condition with the Bank retaining control through the strong room, master key, access restrictions, and other security arrangements. The customer did not obtain exclusive possession or free and unfettered control over the locker, and the transaction was not a sale of any movable chattel but a facility coupled with security services. The charges recovered were inseparable from those services and the arrangement was, in substance, a licence to use a secured space rather than a transfer of the right to use goods. The transaction also did not fall within the definition of works contract.

Conclusion: Bank lockers in the factual setting of the case were not taxable goods, and the rental charged for their use did not amount to a transfer of the right to use goods. The assessment proceedings and notices were therefore unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: A bank locker embedded in a safe deposit vault and retained under the Bank's effective control is not "goods" and a customer's restricted access to it constitutes only a licence to use a secured facility, not a transfer of the right to use goods for sales tax purposes.

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