Judgment

UNTWALIA, J.:- The respondent company in this appeal by special leave has a Distillery and Brewery at Jammu. It maintains wholesale depots at various places in the State of Punjab, the main depot being at Ludhiana. As a whole-seller it supplied Indian made foreign liquor to permit holders on the permits issued by the respective Excise and Taxation Officers, the competent authorities under the Punjab Excise Act and the Rules framed thereunder. Sales tax under the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 was imposed in respect of the sales aforesaid by an order of assessment dated the 30th November, 1972. The respondent, thereupon, filed a writ petition in the High Court for quashing of the said order and to restrain the appellants from recovering the amount of Rupees 46,396.22 paise from the petitioner. The main ground of attack on the imposition of sales tax was that the alleged sales were not sales in the eye of law as the respondent had no volition in the distribution of liquor which was received from the manufacturing concern at Jammu. The prices were fixed by the competent authorities and the respondent had to charge the fixed price from its retailers holding L-2, L-4, L-5 an