SHAH, J. - The assessee is carrying on agricultural operations on a very large scale. In his field he produces sugar-cane, ground-nut, til, cotton, kardi, onion, wheat, tobacco and fruits. He sells the produce at the two offices maintained by him one at Kopargaon and the other at Shrirampur in the district of Ahmednagar. As the sugar-cane cannot after cutting be kept without deterioration for a long time, he extracts juice and prepares gur out of it and sells it at his office. The question which arose before the Sales Tax Authorities was whether he is, in the circumstances, a dealer within the meaning of section 2(6) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953.

The expression "dealer", so far as it is material, is defined by section 2(6) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act as meaning any person who carries on business of selling goods in the State of Bombay whether for commission, remuneration or otherwise. That definition is followed by an explanation which is not material for the purpose of this case. There is an exception to the definition which provides that an agriculturist who sells exclusively agricultural produce grown on land cultivated by him personally shall not be deemed to be a