Judgement

PANIGRAHI, C. J :- The petitioner is a firm dealing in Biri leaves with its head-quarters in Bagbahara in Madhya trades. During the years 1948 to 1951 he was engaged in collecting Biri leaves from the forest areas of Borasambar Zamindari in Sambalpur district, and was carrying on the business of collecting and storing them in godowns situated at various centres within the State of Orissa. These leaves were stored and made up into bundles which were then despatched to various destinations outside the State of Orissa.

The petitioner has been assessed to sales tax and, in addition, a penalty has been imposed upon him for not getting himself registered under the provisions of the Orissa Sales Tax Act. He has, therefore, come up to this Court and prays for a writ directing the Sales Tax authorities to withdraw the demand for payment of taxes and to rescined the orders passed by them.

2. A number of contentions have been raised by learned counsel for the petitioner. It is urged, firstly that the petitioner is not a dealer as defined in the Orissa Sales Tax Act, that he had no place of business in Orissa, that he was merely sending the goods from Orissa to places outside the State