THE COMMISSIONER OF SALES TAX, U.P. versus BISHAMBER SINGH LAYAQ RAM

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THE COMMISSIONER OF SALES TAX, U.P.

v.

BISHAMBER SINGH LA YAQ RAM

August 26, 1980

(P. N. BlIAGWATI, A. P. SEN & E. S. VENKATARAMIAH]

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U.P. Sales Tax Ac! 1948, ss. 2(c) Expln., 7(3) and 11(4)-Kutcha arhatiya whether a deale1-Ques1ion of law neither raised before the appellate nor revi sional authority-High Court in reference-Whether entitled to· go ifllo the question.

Words & Pltrases-'arhatiya'-'pucca arhatiya'-'kutcha arhatiya'-Meaning

of-s. 2(2) Expln. U.P. Sales Tax Act, 1948.

Section 2(c) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, 1948 defines "dealer" to mean any person or association of persons carrying on the business of buying or selling goods in Uttar Pradesh whether for commission, remuneration or otherwise. By the U.P. Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1949 an Explanation was inserted in this section to provide that a factor, a broker, a commission agent or arhatiyo., a de/ credere agent, an auctioneer, or any other mercantile agent by whatever name called, and whether of the same description as hereinbefore mentioned or not, who carries on the business of buying or selling goods on behalf of his principles, or through whom the goods are sold or purchased sh.ill be deemed to be a dealer for !he purposes of the Act.

The respondent (assessee) who was registered as a dealer under section SA was carrying on business in jaggery, amchur, khandsari etc. on its own account and as kutcha arhatiya. The nature of the b~siness carried on by the assessee was that cultivators brought their produce to the assessee for sale. The goods were weighed at his shop and then supplied to the pucca arhatiyas or to other persons. Price of the commodity in ful! or part was paid by the assessee. to the cultivators directly, and the price from the purchaser were realised after· wards. During the asse;;sment year 1967-68 the Sales Tax Officer by his assess ment order rejected the account books of the assessee on the basis of some discrepancy found durir.g the four surveys carried out at the shop and made a best judgment assessment under sub-section (3) of s~ction 7 of the Act, deter mining the taxable turnover of purchases effected by the assessee as a kutcha arhafiya at Rs. 5.3 lacs and taxed it. On appeal the Assistant Commissioner (Judicial), Sales Tax reduced the taxable turnover of purchase by Rs. 1.5 lacs. Cross-revisions by the appellant as well as by the respondent were allowed by the Additional Judge (Revisions), Sales Tax who by his order negalived the plea of the assessee that he was not a dealer but held from the material on record that the iaxable turnover of the assessee could not reasonably be deter mined at Rs. 3.8 lacs. The orders of the Assistant Commissioner (Judicial) and Sales Tax Officer were set aside and a fresh best judgment assessment was directed to be made.

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CST V. :BISHAMBHER SINGH

549

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The High Court .~P~n reference, as to the liability of the '.lssessee to tax -On th~ .transactions .effested .1'y· it as kutclza arhatiya held, that tl:e assessee c'YlJ.S It further. held .t~at .a person can be liable to tax as a eeale~ not a dealer. .only if he acts as an agent having the authority to pass title in the goo.ds sold, and that a kutcha ariw,tiy~ mereiy brought together the seller and the purchaser and helped in settling the price and weighment of the goods etc.

In the appeal to tnis .C.ourt it was contended, on. behalf of. the appellant, >that the High Court was wrong in holding that the assessee was not a dealer within section 2(c) of the Act and that the High Court had completely over looked ,the .. Explanation to ,section 2(c) which was inse.rted by .t.he U .. P .... Sales ·Tax (Amendment) Act, 1959 particularly the words "through whom the g.oods '-....are sold or purchased", and that the Sales Tax Officer was not justified ia

•making an assessment to the best of his judgment under section 7(3).

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Allowing the appeal HELD:

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l(i) The finding arrived at by the High Court that the assessee as a _.kutcha arhatiya me\ely. broµght together the seller and the buyer charging ·an additional sum by way of commissicin and,_ therefore, coul.d not be.regarded •as a dealer i.e. a person engaged in the business .of buying and selling goods, ~s contrary to the admitted facts of the case.

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(ii) Explanation to s. 2(c) brought within the definition of 'dealer' not only ·a commission agent, a factor, a del credere agent or any other mercantile agent by .,whatever name, called, and whether of such de.scription or not, but also a . , 'broker, an auctioneer as well as an arhatiya.

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(iii) The definition of 'dealer' in section 2(c) is wide enough

a selling or purchasing agent of whatever name or description. ·•arhatiya' is wide enough to include kutcha arizatiya.

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to include The term

.(iv) The basic distinction. between a kutcha and a pucca arltatiya is that a k.utdza arhatiya acts as an agent on behalf of his constituent and never acts ;as. a ,principal to him. , A. pucca arht;ttiya acts as a. principal. as., regards his ·Constituent and not as disinterested middleman who brings principals together, ·there being no privily of contract between the constituent and the ihird party. • On ,the othe.r hand a kutcha arhatiya usually denotes .. a person who merely ·'brings together the buyer and seller' charging his commission, who has no ·dominion or control over the goods unlike a pucca arhatiya who deals as a principal . in relation to both his constituent and to the third party. In a commercial sense, a kutcha arhatiya acts as an agent on behalf of his constituent. '[552 G-553 B, F]

Bhagwandas Pilrasram v. Burjorji Ruttonji Bomanji, LR (1917-18) 45 IA 29, Shivnarayan Kabra v. State of Madras. [1967] 1 SCR 138, Sobhagmal Gianmal v. M11k11ndcha11d Balia, L.R. (1926) 53 I.A. 241, Chowringhee Sales Bureau ·(P) Ltd. v. C.l.T .. West Bengal, .[1973] 2 SCR 618, referred to .

. 2(i) The High Court should have declined to go into the question of the. applicability oL s. 7(3) of the Act. When a question of law was neither raised before the Addi. Judge (Revisions) nor considered by him nor did it arise on findings given by him, it will not be a question arising out of his order. [556 F] (ii) The question as to whether the Sales Tax Officer was justified in making a best judgment assessment under section 7(3) of the Act was not referred 1o the High Court. . It was,. therefore, not open to the High Court. to go into ·the question. It could not allow the new point to be raised for the first !im~ [556 G] <in reference.

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(iii) The High Court was also not entitled on a reference under section 11(4) of the Act to set aside the findings of the Addi. Judge (Revisions) merely because on a reappraisal of the evidence it would have come to a contrary conclusion. the assessee in regard to the deficiencies found in the account books should or should not be ac,:epted.

It was also not entitled to examine whether the explanation of +

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CrvrL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 717 of 1973.

Appeal by Special Leave from

the Judgement and Order dated ~

27-10c1972 of the Allahabad High Court in Sales Tax Ref. No. 857 /71. S. Markandeya, for the Appellants.

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0. P. Verma, for the Respondent.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

SEN J.-This is an appeal from a judgment of the Allahabad High Court dated October 27, 1972 which was given upon a reference of certain questions of law made to the High Court by the Additional Judge (Revisions), Sales Tax, Meerut in compliance with its directions under sub-s. (4) of s. l I of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, 1948 calling for a statement of the case. The two questions referred were as follows :

1. Whether there is no material in support of best judgment

assessment ?

2. Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of this. case the asseS!iCe acted the estimated purchase respect of turnover of Rs. 3.80.000 as a dealer so as to be liable to purchase tax ?

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The Commissioner of Sales Tax submitted that the nrst question should be answered in the negative and the second in the affirmative. The High Court decided in favour of the assessee and against the Commissioner', holding that the submission of the assessee was right and answered both the questions to the contrary. From this decision the appellant, the Commissioner of Sales Tax, has appealed.

The reference arose 'out of assessment for the assessment year 1967-68 of Messrs Bishamqer Singh Layaq Ram which carries on . business in jaggery, amchur, khandsari etc. on its own account and in the as kuccha arhatiya in jaggery, district of Muzaffarnagar, and is registered as a dealer under s. 8-A of the Act (hereinafter referred to as 'the asses see').

foodgrains etc. at Shahpur

The material facts may be

follows : During the assessment year in question, the Sales Tax Officer, Muzaffarnagar by .his order dated December 27, 1968 rejected the account books of the

stated

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CST v. BISHAMBHER SINGH (Sen, J.)

551

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assessee on the, basis of some discrepancies found during the four surveys carried out at his shop and made a best judgment assessment .u~er sub-s. (3) of s. 7 of the Act, determining the taxable turnover of purchases ~ffected by it as a kutcha arhatiya at Rs. 5,30,000 and the Assistant the tax payable Commissioner (Judicial), Sales Tax, Muzaffarnagar by his order daled August 11, 1969 taxable turnover of purchases by Rs. 1.50,000 and the tax by Rs. 7,500.

thereon at Rs. 25,450. On appeal

reduced

the

There were two cross-revisions by

the Commissioner of Sales Tax and by the assessee, both of which were allowed by the Additional Judge (Revisions), Sales Tax, Meerut who by his order dated February 10, 1970 while negativing the plea of the assessee that he was not a dealer, however, felt that on the material on record, the taxable the assessee could not reasonably be determined at Rs. 3,80,000. He accordingly set aside the orders of the Assistant Commissioner (Judicial) and of the Sales Tax Officer and directed that there should be a fresh best judgment assessment.

turnover of

Upon reference, the High Court on question No. 2, as to ~he ,liability of the assessee to tax on transactions effected by it as kutcha ·· arhatiya held that the assessee was not a dealer, observing :

"If the assessee is a Kutcha Arhatiya then he is not liable to sales tax. The change in the definition of the word 'dealer' in 1961 upon which the Judge (Revisions) has relied does not change the situation. A person can be liable to tax as a dealer only if he acts as an agent having the authority to pass title in the goods sold. A kutcha arhatiya merely brings together the the price and seller and the purchaser and helps in settling weighing the goods etc. The fact that he sometimes advances money to cultivators who bring their produce for sale or some· times pays the entire sale price to the cultivator from his own pocket is not inconsistent with his being a kutcha arhatiya."

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It was rightly contended on behalf of the Commissioner that the High Court was wrong in holding that the assessee was not a dealer within s. 2(c) of •the Act and that the Sales Tax Officer. was not justified in making an assessment to the best of his judgment It is pointed out that the High Court has completely under s. 7(3). overlooked Explanation to s. 2(c) of the Act which was inserted by the U.P. Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1959, particularly the words 'through whom the goods are sold or purchased' appearing therein. with regard to the applicability of s. 7(3), it is urged that the question was not referred.

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The finding arrived at by the High Court that the assessee as a _kutcha arhatiya merely brought together the seller and the buyer charging an additional sum by way of commission and, therefore, could not be regarded as a dealer, i.e., a person engaged in the business of buying and selling goods, is co"ntrary to the admitted fa~ts of the case. The facts stated in the agreed statement of the case clearly show that the assessee is not a kutcha arhgtliya, in the usual sense of the term, but his business brings into existence the :rdation of vendor and purchaser. The nature of the business carried on by the assessee is described thus :

"Cultivators bring: their produce ito the assessee for sale. ' The goods are weighed at his shop and then supplied to the pucca arhatiyas or to other persons. Price of the commodity in full or part is paid by the assessee to the cultivators directly. In any The price from the pu11chasers is realised afterwards. case it is not lhe responsibility of the cultivators to realise the price from 1the purchasers. On the contrary, it is the assessee who is responsible foi< the payment of 1he price to the cultivators. Some times the cultivators are also paid advances and these are adjusted when the price of the produce is paid to the cultivators." (Emphasis supplied) The decision on the question whether the assessee is a dealer must tum on the construction of s. 2(c), which insofar as material, reads :

"2(c) "dealer" means any person or association of persons carrying on the business of buying or selling goods in Uttar Pradesh, whether for commission, remuneration or otherwise,

Explanation : A factor, a broker, a commission agent or arhati, a de! credere agent, an auctioneer, or any other mercantile agent by whatever name called, and whether of the same description as hereinbefore mentioned or not, who carries. on th'e business of buying or selling goods on behalf of his principals, or through whom tlie goods are sold or purchased shall be deemed to be a dealer for the purposes of this Act." There can. be no doubt that a pucca arhatiya comes within the ·substantive part of the definition of 'dealer' contained in s. 2(c) of the Act, but the question still remains whether a kutcha arhatiya is covered by the definition, by reason of the Explanation thereto.

The basic distinction between a kutcha and a pucca arha:tiya is that a kuitcha arhatiya acts as an agent on behalf of his constituent and never acts as a principal to him. The person with whom he enters into a transaction on behalf of his constituent is either brought into contact with the constituent or at least the constituent is informed of

CST v. BISHAMBHER SINGH .(Sen, J.)

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the fact that the transaction has been entered into on his behalf with a pllrti~ular person. Bui" in· the case of a piii::ca arhatiya, 'ihe agent :inakes himself liable upon the contraot not only to third parties but. also to b'!s constituent. ' :He does not inform' his constituent as to the third party with whom he has entered into a contract on his behalf.

Thus, a pucca arhatiya acts as a principal as regards his constituent and 'not as a disinterested middle'rriall who brings about two principals together, there being no privity of contract 'between the constituent and the third party, arid may substitute his own goods towards the contract made for the principal and buy the principal's goods on his personal account. On the' other hand a kutcha arhatiya usually denotes a person who merely 'brings together the buyer and the ·seller' charging his commiss.ion, who has no dominion or control over the goods, unlike a pucca arhatiya who deals as a principal in relation to both his constituent and .to the third party.

The crucial test is whether the agent has any personal interest of his own when he enters into the transaction or whether that interest is limited to his commission agency charges and certain out of pocket expenses, and in the event of any Joss his right to ·be indemnified by the principal. This principle was applied in the case of pakki arhat by Sir Lawrence Jenkins C.J. l3hagwanda:s Narot'amdas v. Kan;i Deaji(I) and approved of by the Judicial Committee in Bhagwandas Partisram v. Burjorji Ruttanji Bamanji(2) and by this Court in Shiv11arayau Kabra v. State of Madras.( 3) As to the incidents of pakki arhat, Sir Lawrence Jenkins in Bhagwandas Narol!amdas's case sue· cinctly states the legal position; in his own terse language :

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"A pakka adatia is not, in the proper sense of the word, aII agent or even a del credere agent. The -relation between him and his up-country constituent is substantially one of principal and principal."

In a commercial sense, a kutcha arhatiya acts as an agent on behalf of his constituent. The main characteristic of a kutcha' arhatiya has been described by the Judicial Committee in Sobhagmal Gianmal v. Mukundchand Balia(4) in these terms :

"When a katcha adatia enters into transactions under instruc· tions from and on behalf of his up-country constituent with a third party in Bombay, he, makes privity of contract between the third party and the constituent, so that each becomes liable

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(l) ILR 30 Born. 205. (2) LR (1917-18) 45 IA 29. (3) [1967] 1 SCR 138. (4) L.R. (1926) 53 I.A. 241.

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to the other, but also he renders himself responsible on the contract to the third party."

Vivian Bose J. in Kalyanji Kuwarji v. Tirkaram Sheolal(I) puts +

the matter thus:

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"The test to my mind is ·this : does the commission agent when he sells have authority to sell in his own name ? Has he authority in his own right to pass a valid title ? If he has then he is acting as a principal vis-a-vis the purchasers and not merely as an agent and therefore from that point or he is a debtor of his erstwhile principal and not merely an agent. Whether this is so or not must of course depend upon the facts in each particular case." It is plain, on an examination of the language as it stood at the material time, from the definition of 'dealer' in s. 2(c) that even" a selling or purchasing agent is within that definition. A person to be a 'dealer' under that definition must be engaged in the business of buying and selling goods in Uttar Pradesh whether for commission, remuneration or otherwise. Explanation to s. 2(c) brought within the definition of 'dealer' not only a commission agent, a factor, a del credere agent or any other mercantile agent by whatever name called, and whether of such description or not, but also a brokar, an auctioneer as well as an arhatiya. The use of the words "through whom the goods are sold or purchased" in the Explanation is significant, and they must be given their due meaning. Thus, the definition of 'dealer' in s. 2(c) is wide enough to include a selling or ·purchasing agent of whatever name or description. The term 'arhatiya' is wide enough to include a kutcha arhatiya.

·If the Explanation to s. 2(c) of the Act were not there, perhaps it could be said that a kutcha arhatiya is merely an agent who helps cultivators who bring their produce to the market for sale, to find buyers, assist them in weighment and secure to them payment of price, but the assessee here certaill1ly does not answer that description. That apart, the Explanation clearly brings within the definition of 'dealer' in s. 2(c) a kutcha arhatiya. It was not suggested at any time that the Explanation was ultra vires the State Legislature being beyond the ambit of Entry 54 of List II of the Seventh Schedule. The consti tutional validity of a similar Explanation to, s. 2(1c) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 which brought an auctioneer within the purview of the definition of 'dealer.' in that section, was upheld by this Court in Chowringhee Sales Bureau (P) Ltd. v. C.l.T., West Bengal.(2~ The whole object is to tax a transaction of sale in the

(1) A.l.R. (1938) Nag. 254. (2) [1973] 2 SCR 618.

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CST v. BISHAMBHER SINGH (Sen, J.)

555

hands of a person who carries on the business of selling goods and who has the legal or customary authority to sell goods belonging to the principal.

to call

It is evident from the statement of the case that the business .carried on by the assessee was more or less similar to that of a pu.cca it a kutcha arhmiya. . It .arhatiya and it is a misnomer actually purchased the goods from the sellers, i.e., the· cultivators, and then sold them· in ·the market to the other buyers, as if they It paid to the cultivators the were its own, obviously at a profit. price of the goods it purchased and received from the buyers the price at which is sold. Selling of goods was not simultaneous with receiv- ing them. These facts can lead to no other conclusion except that it bought and then sold goods and not merely brought buyers into contact with sellers and arranged transactions between them. In these .circumstances, the High Court should have held the assessee to be a dealer under s. 2(c) of the Act, read with the Explanation ;thereto.

There remains the question whether the High Court was justified in holding that there was no basis for making a best judgment assessment. The Addi. Judge (Revisions) had remanded the case for a reassessment on the basis of best judgment; on his finding that there was no material whatever on record to enable him to come to a ·Conclusion one way or the other, on the disputed question of fact, i.e., whether the best judgment assessment of taxable turnover at Rs. 3,80,000 could be sus.tained.

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Though the question of the applicability of s. 7(3) of the Act was . not, in terms. referred to the High Count under s. 11(4), the Addi. Judge (Revisions) in stating the case mentioned that the assessee had ·contended before him that · his account books had been wrongly rejected.

The statement of 'the case sets out

the details of the various · surveys made and the nature of the deficiencies found. The High Court treating the question referred to be a composite one, embarked upon an enquiry as the Sales Tax Authorities were to whether juistified in rejecting the best in making the account books and judgment assessment# under s. 7(3). It has referred to the four surveys carried <;mt on August 11. 1967, December 13, 1967, January 7, 1968 and March 8, 1968. In the first survey held on August 11, 1967 it was found that the Nagal Bahi had not been written for eleven days. The High Court observes that 'no adverse .inference could be .drawn on this account because the assessee's explanation was that. there were no cash transactions for this period, and, therefore, the Nagai Bahi h:ad not been written' .. With regard to the second survey carried out on December 13, 1967 it was discovered that there was

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a loose parclur containing several entries. One of the entries of Rs. 371.17 in the name of Sakh Chand Udit Mohan alone· was entered in the account books. That foo on December 13, 1967 after inspection,

while the payment was actually made on December' 11, 1967, i.e., +

it was not contemporaneous' with the transactfotn. The High Court observes that 'it has not been found that any other entry contained in the loose parcha had not been entered in the account books'. With regard to the third survey carried out on January 7, 1968 when twelve bags of wheat were found in stock, the stock register was not ~ shown to the surveying officer. The High Court has again accepted the explanation of the assessee saying that 'there was no duty cast / on the assessee to produce the stock register and it was not shown It observes that 'there is nothing. since there ·was no demand for it'. inh s. 13d or i n_ any. otJ;ier provisions of the Act or the rules framed ~, t ereun er w rn;h reqmres a dealer to produce his books of accounts 1 and other documents before the surveying officer'. As ·regards the · last survey held on March 8, 1968 the Mondhi Bahi was found to be pos'ed upto February 29, 1968. Thus there were no entries for eight days. The exp ~anation af the assessee was that it had not entered into any contract during the eight days in question. The High Court observes that 'as there was no mater:a1 whatever for rejecting his explanation, no adverse inference could be drawn with regard to the veracity of the accoun:s, si111ce Mondhi Bahi is not a necessa~y account book'. We are not inclined to agree with this line of reasoning. While we refrain from expressing any opinion on the requirements of s. 13(2) of the Act, we are satisfied that the finding of the High Court that the:·e was nothing wrong with the method of accounting adopted by the assessee cannot be upheld.

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In our opinion, the High Court should have declined to go into the question of the applicability of s. 7(3) of the Act. When a question of law was neither raised before the Addi. Judr,e. (Revisions) nor considered bv him nor did it arise on the findings given by him, it will not be a question arising out of his 0rder.

The question as to whe!~her the Sales Tax Officer was justified in making a best judgment assessment under s. 7(3) of the Act was It was, therefore, not open to the not referred to the High Court. High Court to go into the question. It could not allow •he new point to be raised for the first time in reference. Nor was the High Court entitled on a reference under s. 11( 4) of the Act to set aside the finding of the Addl. Judge (Revisions) merely because on a reap· praisal of the evidence it would have come to a contrary conclusion . . It was also' not entitled to examine whether the explanation of the assessee in -regard to the deficiencies found the account books

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557

, It may be that the Sales Tax should or should not be accepted. Authorities should have a,.ccepted the explanation of the assessee with regard to the aforesaid. deficiencies, but it may as well be that there are various other defici~ncies which the assessee will have still to explain.

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For all these reasons, the judgment of the High Court is set aside and that of "the Addl. Judge (Revisions), Sales Tax Meerut remanding the case for a fresh judgment assessment under s. 7(3) of the Act is restored. There shall be no order as to costs.

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Appeal allow:ed.

15-647 S.C. India/SO