Syed Shah Mohammed Quadri, J. - (1.) This revision petition, under section 22(1) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 (for short "the Act"), is filed by the State against the order of the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal in T.A. No. 863 of 1979 dated 16/10/1985.
(2.) The point urged before us by the learned Government Pleader, Commercial Taxes, is that the disputed turnover relates to inter-State sale, as such, the Tribunal ought not to have treated the transaction as a consignment sale. To appreciate the contention it is necessary to note a few relevant facts. The respondent is a dealer in rice. During the assessment year 1977-78, it sold rice to certain parties in the State of Karnataka (Bangalore). The disputed turnover of Rs. 2,26,064 relates to this sales. While the rice was in transit to Bangalore the purchasers paid the price and obtained transfer of documents of title in their favour; the delivery of rice was taken by non-resident dealers. The Commercial Tax Officer treated the said transaction as an inter-State sale and assessed the turnover to tax. On appeal to the Assistant Commissioner (Appeals), the levy was upheld. On further appeal to the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal by the assessee, the Tribunal allowed the appeal on two grounds : (i) in similar cases the transaction was treated as a consignment sale and no reason was given as to why the present transaction was treated differently; and (ii) that the reason given by the first appellate authority to treat the transaction as an inter-State sale did not conclusively establish that the transaction was an inter-State sale.
(3.) It would be useful to note here the relevant provision of section 3 of the Central Sales Tax Act, i.e., section 3(b), which reads thus : "3. When is a sale or purchase of goods said to take place in the course of inter-State trade or commerce. - A sale or purchase of goods shall be deemed to take place in the course of inter-State trade or commerce if the sale or purchase - (a) ................. (b) is effected by a transfer of documents of title to the goods during their movement from one State to another.";