Casual trader interpretation allows a single motor vehicle transaction to trigger the special assessment limitation.

A single purchase transaction can fall within the expression "casual trader" where the statute contemplates occasional business-like dealings in goods. Reading the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954 and the entry tax machinery provisions harmoniously, the Court applied the rule that singular words may include the plural unless the context requires otherwise. It rejected a construction that would exclude a person with only one such transaction from the special limitation scheme, as that would defeat the legislative purpose of treating casual transactions differently. The assessment was therefore governed by the shortened period applicable to casual traders.

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Issues: Whether a single transaction of purchase of a motor vehicle can fall within the expression "casual trader" for the purpose of applying the shortened period of assessment under the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954 and the Rajasthan Tax on Entry of Motor Vehicles into Local Areas Act, 1988.

Analysis: The definition of "casual trader" covers occasional transactions of a business nature involving buying and selling of goods. The statutory scheme links the entry tax assessment to the machinery provisions of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954, including the provisions relating to casual traders and the time limit for assessment. Reading the provision in a sensible and harmonious manner, and applying the settled rule that words in the singular may include the plural unless the context requires otherwise, the expression is not confined only to traders who have more than one transaction. A contrary construction would produce an anomalous result by excluding a person who has only one such transaction from the category altogether, despite the legislative purpose of prescribing a special limitation for casual transactions.

Conclusion: A single transaction can be sufficient to attract the character of a "casual trader", and the assessment was therefore governed by the special limitation applicable to such traders.

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