RAMANUJAM, J.

The assessee in this case is a press and it returned a taxable turnover of Rs. 28, 320, 59 for the assessment year 1973-74. The assessing authority however, determined the taxable turnover at Rs. 71, 886 after rejecting the claim of the assessee that certain portions of its turnover represented amounts covered by works contract. The order of the assessing authority was challenged in appeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, but without success. Then the assessee filed on appeal before the Sales tax Appellate Tribunal where also it failed. Thereafter the assessee has come before us questioning the order the Tribunal holding that assessee is liable to pay tax on the finished articles supplied by it to the customers, if the assessee itself had supplied paper for printing.

It is seen that the assessee has got two sets of transactions, namely, (1) transactions where the customers themselves supply paper and the printing work is done by the assessee on the paper supplied, and (2) transactions where the assessee itself supplies paper and does the printing work thereon. In the former case, the assessee merely charges for its printing work and in the letter, it charges separately for paper and for printing work. In so far as the first set of transactions is concerned, even the assessing authority has given relief holding that the turnover covered by such transactions represents only the charges for printing. We are not now concerned with those transactions. So far as the second set of transactions is concerned, the assessing authority, the appellate authority and the Tribunal have all taken the view that the turnover covered thereby will have to be taken as representing sales of finished products and therefore the assessee is liable to be taxed on that part of the turnover.The learned counsel for the assessee contends before us that the Tribunal is in error in treating the disputed turnover as representing sales of finished products merely on the ground that the assessee itself has supplied paper and that in such cases then work of printing undertaken by the assessee was in pursuance of a works contract and the supply of paper by the assessee by itself cannot be taken to indicate that there was an agreement of a sale of a finished product. It is also the contention of the assessee's learned counsel that in all these cases the intention of the parties is the prime factor and if the intention is to get finished product of commercial value which is normally saleable in market, then the contract can be taken to the one for sale of finished product of commercial value. If, on the other hand, the intention of the parties is to get the printing work done by the assessee either utilising the paper supplied by the customer or the paper procured by the assessee itself at the customer's cost, then the bargain between the parties is only in relation to the work of printing and not in relation to the ultimate finished product. Thus the intention of the parties and the substance of the contract must be taken to be the relevant factors.

In the present case the disputed turnover represents substantially the turnover relating to printing of judgments, question papers, wedding cards, letter heads and bills, ledgers and binding works for certain customers. The Tribunal has, relying on the decision of the Orissa High Court in State of Orissa v. Sri D. N. Joshi, held that the contract was to supply paper as well as doing printing work and the same was indivisible and that therefore the assessee was liable to pay sales tax on the entire sum. Before the Tribunal, the assessee contended that the contract should be treated as divisible, one relating to sale of paper and the other relating to supply of labour. The Tribunal, however, held that the contract is one and indivisible and therefore it should be taken to be one for sale of finished product. The Tribunal also relied on a decision of this Court in P. M. Venkatachalam Pill