Controlled supply intermediary arrangement does not create dealer status where no sale as principal occurs.

Under a controlled coal supply arrangement, an intermediary who merely arranges delivery for a disclosed certificate holder and guarantees payment to the colliery does not effect a sale as principal or authorised commission agent. Because the coal was to be acquired only by the authorised consumer and the intermediary neither purchased nor owned the goods, it was not carrying on business as a seller of goods. The respondents were therefore not dealers under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953 and were not liable to registration on the transaction in question; the Tribunal's view was sustained.

---

---

Issues: Whether the respondents, acting as middlemen or commission agents in coal transactions controlled by the Colliery Control Order, carried on the business of selling goods so as to be dealers liable to registration under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953.

Analysis: Under the control order, coal could be acquired only by a person holding the requisite authority, and the certificate in question showed the consumer as consignee. The arrangement disclosed no sale by the colliery to the respondents and then by the respondents to the consumer. The respondents merely arranged the transaction for the disclosed purchaser and guaranteed payment to the colliery. On the facts, they did not purchase the coal, did not become its owners, and did not effect sales as principals or as authorised commission agents.

Conclusion: The respondents were not dealers within the meaning of the Act and were not liable to registration on the transaction cited.

Final Conclusion: The appeal was without merit, and the Tribunal's view that the respondents did not carry on a business of selling coal was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a controlled supply arrangement permits only a sale to the certificate holder and the intermediary merely arranges delivery for a disclosed purchaser while guaranteeing payment, the intermediary does not effect a taxable sale and is not a dealer.

---