1. The petitioner, the Kerala Arecanut Company, Kokala, Trichur, is a registered firm consisting of three partners. The 1st respondent is the State of Travancore-Cochin, and the 2nd, the Sales Tax Officer, First Circle, Trichur.

2. Art.286(2) of the Constitution as it stood before the Sixth Amendment (excluding the proviso) read as follows:-

"Except in so far as Parliament may by law otherwise provide, no law of a State shall impose, or authorise the imposition of, a tax on the sale or purchase of any goods where such sale or purchase takes place in the course of inter-State trade or commerce".

and the contention urged on behalf of the petitioner is that the transaction with which we are concerned took place "in the course of inter-State trade or commerce" and are as a result exempt from taxation under the Travancore-Cochin General Sales Tax Act, 1125.

3. The assessment order impugned is Ext. C, an order of the 2nd respondent dated 24-11-1955. The order is not challenged on any ground other than the one mentioned above and it is hence unnecessary to consider any of the provisions of the Travancore-Cochin General Sales Tax Act, 1125, or the Travancore-Cochin General Sales Ta