VEERASWAMI, J.

Though the petitioners are different, as a common point arose their appeals were heard together by the Tribunal and the petitions directed against the appellate orders are also posted together. The common point is whether the assessee, who is a commission agent, and therefore, a dealer as defined in the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959, is entitled to deduction from the turnover of excise duty paid on the goods by the common principal. That excise duty is deductible from the turnover is not in dispute but the Tribunal took the view that inasmuch as the commission agent was not the person who paid the excise duty, he would not be entitled to ask for deduction under rule 6 of the Madras General Sales Tax Rules, 1959.

We are unable to accept that view. The transactions which were put through by the commission agent were really those of the principal and on his behalf. The commission agent will not normally be a dealer, but for the purpose of assessment, the expression "dealer" has been so defined by the Act as to include a commission agent. On that account, the true nature of the transactions is not altered. Having defined a commission agent as a dealer in r