In Brief
The case concerns whether timber import sales by Vellanki Frame Works to end-buyers outside Andhra Pradesh were exempt from tax as 'sales in the course of import' or liable as inter-state sales. The appellant claimed it acted as an agent for end-buyers and transferred goods via high-sea endorsements before customs clearance. The Supreme Court upheld the tax demand, finding that the appellant—whose name appeared in import manifests and bills of entry, and who was assessed customs duty—was the true importer. Absent amendment to import documents and with no corroboration of the claimed high-sea sales to end-buyers, the subsequent inter-state movement of goods was taxable as inter-state sales, not import sales.
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