HIDAYATULLAH, J. - This order shall also govern Miscellaneous Petitions Nos. 279 and 308 of 1954.

2. Petition No. 245 is by the Madhya Pradesh Contractors' Association through its Secretary. Petition No. 279 is by the Jabalpur Contractors' Association, the President and Secretary (who are contractors) and the legal adviser (who is not) of the said association. Petition No. 308 is by a contractor.

3. By these petitions the assessment of sales tax on the supply of building materials used in the execution of building contracts for the Public Works Department, the M.E.S. and private parties is challenged. The petitioners execute the works after their tenders for the finished work according to approved plans and pre-determined quantities and quality are accepted. They supply the materials which go into the finished work. Payment, on their averments, is for the completed work but during its progress a portion of the amounts of the current bills is paid.

4. The petitioners submit that there is no transfer of property in the materials as such, that they are not goods in the strict sense, that there is no sale for a price and that the materials form part of immovable property before p