M.R.Sharma, J.

1. The following question has been referred to us by the presiding officer of the Sales Tax Tribunal, Punjab :

Whether the sale of bottles of milk khaja, which consists of pure milk, sugar, flavour and khaja wherein no manufacturing process is involved in filling these bottles, is milk and the sale thereof is exempt from tax ?

2. At the very outset, we would like to observe that the learned Sales Tax Tribunal should not have assumed that no manufacturing process was involved in filling the bottles. He should have framed the question like this:

Whether, in the facts and circumstances of the case, the sale of bottles of milk khaja which consists of pure milk, sugar, flavour and khaja comes within the definition of sale or not ?

3. We have said so because the question whether in preparing a thing any process of manufacturing is involved or not is a relevant factor to determine whether the original commodity remains the same or not. We, however, feel that if we are to remit the case back to the presiding officer of the Sales Tax Tribunal, it would involve further delay in the decision of the case. We have, therefore, decided to answer the question as now framed b