Summarize the following court judgment. vil Appeal NO. 186875 of 1986. From the Judgment and Order dated 28.2.1986 of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in W.P. Nos. 10181 of 1983	 11830	 4677	 4763	 4778 of 1985	 4926	 4935 and 4948 of 1986. 308 A.K. Ganguli	 A.K. Sen	 Shanti Bhushan	 Harish N. Salve	 section Krishnan	 J.B. Dada Chanji	 Mrs. A.K. Verma	 Joel Pares	 R. Dave	 A. Subba Rao	 Sunil Kumar Jain	 Vijay Hansaria	 K. Srinivasa Mufti	 Kailash Vasudev	 Nauni Lal	 A.T.M. Sampath	 R. Karanjawala	 Mrs. M. Karanjawala and H.S. Anand for the Appellants. M.K. Banerjee	 Solicitor General	 B. Datta	 Additional Solicitor General	 T.V.S.N. Chari	 Ms. Sunita and Ms. Vrinda Grover for the Respondents. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by PATHAK	 CJ. These appeals are directed against the judgment of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh dismissing several writ petitions filed by the appellants challenging assessments made under the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act 1957 on the value of packing material at the rate ap plicable to goods packed therein. The appellants in some of the appeals are manufacturers of or dealers in beer	 the appellants in the other appeals are manufacturers of or dealers in cement. The beer is sold in bottles packed in cartons. The cement is sold in gunnies. Section 5 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act ') provides for the levy of sales tax on the turnover of goods at the rates specified in that provision. In the case of goods mentioned in the First Schedule to the Act tax is leviable at the rates	 and at the point of sale	 specified therein. In the case of goods mentioned in the Sixth Schedule	 likewise tax is leviable at the rates and at the points specified therein. Item 19 of the First Schedule speaks of 'Containers other than gunnies and bottles '. These goods are subject to tax at the rate of 5 paise in the rupee at the point of first sale in the State. Item 123 of the First Schedule enumerates 'glass and glassware '	 which is subject to sales tax at 9 paise in the rupee at the point of first sale in the State. In respect of cement tax is leviable by reference to item 18 of the First Schedule at the rate of 10 paise in the rupee at the point of first sale in the State	 while gunnies	 formerly mentioned under item 67 of the First Schedule	 and now included in item 157 of that Schedule	 are subject to tax at the point of first sale in the State. And beer is covered by item 1 of the Sixth Schedule under the category 'Country Liquor ' taxable at the rate of 10 paise in the rupee at every point of sale other than at the point of last sale	 at which point the rate is 5 paise per rupee. 309 Clause (s) of Section 2 of the Act defines 'turnover ' to mean the total amount set out in the bill of sale (or if there is no bill of sale	 the total amount charged) as the consideration for the sale or purchase of goods (whether such consideration be cash	 deferred payment or any other thing of value) including any sums charged by the dealer for anything done in respect of goods sold at the time of or before the delivery of the goods and any other sums charged by the dealer	 whatever be the description	 name or object thereof; or the aggregate of amounts charged under section 5 C. With effect from 8 July	 1983	 section 6 C was inserted in the Act by Andhra Pradesh Act No. 11 of 1984	 and it provides: 'Notwithstanding anything in sections 5 and 6 A	 where goods packed in any materials are sold or purchased	 the materials i	n which the goods are so packed shall be deemed to have been sold or purchased along with the goods and the tax shall be leviable on such sale or purchase of the materials at the rate of tax	 if any	 as applicable to the sale	 or	 as the case may be	 purchase of goods themselves. ' The net turnover of a dealer assessable to tax is deter mined under rule 6 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Rules	 after deducting the amount specified in clauses (a) to (1) of that rule from the total turnover. Of these clauses	 clause (g) speaks of: 'Amounts relating to charges for services rendered in connection with the packing of goods when specified and charged for by the dealer separately	 without including them in the price of goods sold. ' The appellants filed the writ petitions	 out of which the present appeals arise	 in the High Court at Hyderabad challenging the assessments to sales tax made on the turn over of packing material employed either by way of bottles for containing beer or by way of gunny bags for packing cement. The appellants challenged the application of such rate in assessments made in relation to the period before 8 July	 1983. The appellants also challenged the application of that rate proposed pursuant to section 6C in show cause no tices issued by the concerned authority. While dismissing the writ petitions	 the High Court has proceeded on the basis that having regard to the nature of the goods and to the trade practice in respect of beer and cement the con tainers were necessary concomitants in the transactions	 and the transfer of 310 property in the containers was incidental or unavoidable	 that the sale transactions had to be regarded as composite and integrated sales of the containers and their contents and what was really sold was the bottled beer or the cement packed in gunny bags. The learned Judges observed further that even where money was paid to the dealer as security deposit refundable on the return of the bottles the sale of the bottle could not be treated as an independent transac tion different and distinct from the transaction of sale of the beer. So also was the case in the sale of cement con tained in gunnies. The learned Judges expressed the view that the consideration paid by the purchaser to the dealer consists not only of the price of the contents	 namely	 beer or cement	 but also includes the price of the containers	 that is the bottles and the cartons in the case of beer and gunnies in the case of cement. It is commonly accepted that a transaction of sale may consist of a sale of the product and a separate sale of the container housing the product with respective sale consider ations for the product and the container separately; or it may consist of a sale of the product and a sale of the container but both sales being conceived of as integrated components of a single sale transaction; so. 	 what may yet be a third case	 it may consist of a sale of the product with the transfer of the container without any sale consid eration therefore. The question in every case will be a question of fact as to what are '. the nature and ingredients of the sale. It is not right in law to pick on one ingredi ent only to the exclusion of the others and deduce from it the character of the transaction. For example	 the circum stance that the price of the product and the price of the container are shown separately may be evidence that two separate transactions are envisaged	 but that circumstance alone cannot be conclusive of the true character of the transaction. It is not unknown that traders may	 for the advantage of their trade	 show what is essentially a single sale transaction of product and container	 or a transaction of a sale of the product only with no consideration for the transfer of the container	 as divisible into two separate transactions	 one of sale of the product	 and the other a sale of the container	 with a distinct price shown against each. Similarly where a deposit is made by the purchaser with the dealer	 the deposit may be pursuant to a transac tion where there is no sale of the container and its return is contemplated	 and in the event of its not being returned the security is liable to forfeiture. Alternatively	 it may be a case where the Container is sold and the deposit repre sents the consideration for the sale	 and in the event of the container being returned to the dealer the deposit is returned by way of consideration for the re sale. In every case	 the assessing authority is obliged to ascertain the 311 true nature and character of the transaction upon a consid eration of all the facts and circumstances pertaining to the transaction. That the problem almost always requires factual investigation into the nature and ingredients of the trans action has been repeatedly emphasised by this Court. In Hyderabad Deccan Cigarette Factory vs The State of Andhra Pradesh	 [1966] 17 STC 624 this Court said: "It is not possible to state as a proposition of law that whenever particular goods were sold in a container the parties did not intend to sell and buy the container also. Many cases may be visualized where the container is comparatively of high value and sometimes even higher than that contained in it. Scent or whisky may be sold in costly containers. Even cigarettes may be sold in silver or gold caskets. It may be that in such cases the agreement to pay an extra price for the con tainer may be more readily implied. In the present case	 if we may say so with respect	 all the authorities	 including the High Court	 dealt with the question as a question of law without considering the relevant factors which would sustain or negative any such agreement . . A perusal of the orders of the various author ities and the High Court shows that a simple question of fact has been sidetracked by copious citations. Whether there was an agree ment to sell the packing materials is a pure question of fact and that question cannot be decided on fictions or surmises. That is what has happened in this case. The Commercial Tax Officer invoked a fiction; the	 Assistant Com missioner of Commercial Taxes relied upon the doctrine of "finished product"; the Appellate Tribunal relied upon surmises; and the High Court	 on the principle of implied agreement. But none has tackled the real question. The burden lies upon the Commercial Tax Officer to prove that a turnover is liable to tax. No doubt he can ask the assessee to produce the relevant material; and if he does not produce the same	 he may draw an adverse inference against him. But	 he must decide the crucial question whether the packing materials were subject of the agreement of sale	 express or implied. To ascertain the said fact he can rely upon oral statements	 accounts and other documents	 personal enquiry and other relevant circumstances such as the nature and the purpose of the packing materials used. " 312 Again	 in Commissioner of Taxes	 Assam vs Prabhat Marketing Co.	 Ltd.	 [1967] 19 STC 84 this Court accepted as well founded submission that the parties may have intended in the circumstances to sell hydrogenated oil apart from the con tainers	 and the mere fact that the price of the containers was not separately fixed would make no difference in the assessment of sales tax	 and went on to observe: "It is well established that in order to constitute a sale it is necessary that there should be an agreement between the parties for the purpose of transferring title to goodS	 the agreement must be supported by money consideration	 and that as a result of the transaction the property should actually pass in the goods. Unless all the ingredients are present in the transaction there could be no sale of goods and sales tax cannot be imposed State of Madras vs Gannon Dunkerley and Co. (Madras) Ltd.; 	 . . . . . . . . . . . The question as to whether there is an agree ment to sell packing material is a pure ques tion of fact depending upon the circumstances found in each case. " There can be as many different kinds of transactions as the circumstances of the case may require either by reason of prevailing trade practice or market conditions or person al convenience	 and as human ingenuity may devise for bona fide reducing the burden of tax. In The State of Karnataka vs Shaw Wallace and Company Ltd.	 [1981] 48 STC 169 the High Court of Karnataka pointed out that there was an agreement to sell the bottles and crates in which the liquor was conveyed and there was also an agreement in regard to the price of those containers	 and therefore the turnover in regard to those items had to be determined and the appropri ate rate of sales tax had to be charged as provided in the Karnataka Sales Tax Act. Reference was made to the require ment in the Karnataka Excise Act	 1966 that the liquor had to be sold in sealed containers but that	 the High Court said	 did not automatically lead to the conclusion that the same rate of sales tax was applicable to containers also. It was observed that such a presumption could not be made	 specially when separate rates were specified in the Sales Tax Act in regard to the containers and the contents. In Arlem Breweries Ltd. vs The Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax	 Panaji	 [1983] 53 STC 172 the Panaji Bench of the High Court of Bombay noted that item 22 of the First Schedule to the Goa	 Daman and Diu Sales Tax Act	 1964	 which spoke of the item "foreign liquor and 313 India made foreign liquor" indicated that the tax was levied only on the liquor and not against the bottle and liquor or bottled liquor. The sale was of beer and the bottles were treated separately. It was also pointed out that the agree ment by the assessee with the wholesaler did not create any obligation on the purchasers to return the bottles nor did it fix any time for their return. The payment of an amount for the bottles in advance as a term of the sale was re ferred to as cost of the bottles and this	 the High Court said	 constituted the sale price of the bottles although described as a deposit. In M/s Jamana Flour & Oil Mill (P) Ltd. vs State of Bihar	 ; this Court affirmed the finding that there was an implied agreement of the sale of gunny bags. It said: "Admittedly gunny bags are a different commod ity and sale thereof is assessable to tax at 4 1/2 %. It is not disputed that the appellant bought gunny bags for packing wheat products for the purpose of sale. The control order contemplates a net weight which means that the weight of the bag is included in the price to be charged by the dealer. Under the Explana tion when packing is done in cloth bags	 a higher rate is admissible. The scheme clearly suggests that the price of gunny bags is inclusive and where cloth bag is used	 a higher price over and above what has been provided for ordinary containers is permitted. " It is	 therefore	 perfectly plain that the issue as to whether the packing material has been sold or merely trans ferred without consideration depends on the contract between the parties. The fact that the packing is of insignificant value in relation to the value of the contents may imply that there was no intention to sell the packing	 but where any packing material is of significant value it may imply an intention to sell the packing material. In a case where the packing material is an independent commodity and the packing material as well as the contents are sold independently	 the packing material is liable to tax on its own footing. Wheth er a transaction for sale of packing material is an inde pendent transaction will depend upon several factors	 some of them being: 1. The packing material is a commodity having its own identity and is separately classified in the Schedule; 2. There is no change	 chemical or physical	 in the packing either at the time of packing or at the time of using the content; 314 3. The packing is capable of being reused after the con tents have been consumed; 4. The packing is used for convenience of transport and the quantity of the goods as such is not dependent on pack ing; 5. The mere fact that the consideration for the packing is merged with the consideration for the product would not make the sale of packing an integrated part of the sale of the product. In one case	 Punjab Distilling Industries Ltd. vs The Com missioner of Income Tax	 Simla	 [1959] Supp. 1 SCR 683 where the bottles were sold by the assessee under a buy back scheme	 the security deposit for the return of the bottles was held to be merely in the nature of an incentive to the buyer to return the bottles. Turning to section 6C of the Act	 it seems to envisage a case where it is the goods which are sold and there is no actual sale of the packing material. The section provides by legal fiction that the packing material shall be deemed to have been sold along with the goods. In other words	 although there is no sale of the packing material	 it will be deemed that there is such a sale. In that event	 the section de clares	 the tax will be leviable on such deemed sale of the packing material at the rate of tax applicable to the sale of the goods themselves. It is difficult to comprehend the need for such a provision. It can at best be regarded as a provision by way of clarification of an existing legal situation. If the transaction is one of sale of the goods only	 clearly all that can be taxed in fact is the sale of the goods	 and the rate to be applied must be read in the case of such goods. It may be that the price of the goods is determined upon a consideration of several components	 including the value of the packing material	 but nonetheless the price is the price of the goods. It is not open to anyone to say that the value of the different components which have entered into a determination of the price of the goods should be analysed and separated	 in order that dif ferent rates of tax should be applied according to the character of the component (for example	 packing material). What section 6C intends to lay down is that even upon such analy sis the rate of tax to be applied to the component will be the rate applied to the goods themselves. And that is for the simple reason that it is the price of the goods alone which constitutes the transaction between the dealer and the purchaser. No matter what may be the component which enters into such price	 the parties understand between them that the purchaser is paying the price of the goods. Section 6C merely clarifies and explains that 315 the components which have entered into determining the price of the goods cannot be treated separately from the goods themselves	 and that no account was in fact taken of the packing material when the transaction took place	 and that if such account must be taken then the same rate must be applied to the packing material as is applicable to the goods themselves. We find it difficult to accept the conten tion of the appellants that a rate applicable to the packing material in the Schedule should be applied to the sale of such packing material in a case under section 6C	 when in fact there was no such sale of packing material and it is only by legal fiction	 and for a limited purpose	 that such sale can be contemplated. In the circumstances	 no question arises of section 6C being constitutionally discriminatory	 and therefore invalid. In the appeals before us	 we find that the High Court has proceeded on the assumption that the transactions are covered by trade practice and having regard to the nature of the goods it has inferred that what is charged is the price of the bottled beer or of cement packed in gunny bags	 and reference has also been made to the Excise Law and the Cement Control Order requiring that the liquor or the ce ment	 as the case may be	 must be sold in bottles or in gunny bags respectively. We are constrained to observe that no attempt has been made by the tax authorities to ascertain the facts of each case and to determine what were the actual ingredients of the contract and the intention of the par ties. Assumptions have been made when what was required was a detailed investigation into the facts. We have indicated earlier the several possibilities which are open in cases of this kind	 and how the ultimate conclusion can be vitally affected by the tests to be applied. Because of the lack of adequate and clear factual material	 the High Court also was compelled to proceed on the basis of generalised statements and broad assumptions. We are unable	 in the circumstances	 to hold that the cases can be regarded as disposed of final ly. It is regrettable but the cases must go back for proper findings on facts to be ascertained on fuller investigation. In the circumstances	 the appeals are allowed	 the impugned judgment and order of the High Court in the several cases are set aside and the cases are remanded to the High Court for further consideration and disposal in the light of the observations made by us. In the case of the writ peti tions before us	 the assessing authority will allow the dealer to show cause and thereafter upon evidence led before it determine the matter. There is no order as to costs. R.S.S. Appeals allowed.

The appellants in some of the appeals are manufactur ers of or dealers in beer	 the appellants in the other appeals are manufacturers of or dealers in cement. The appellants filed writ petitions in the Andhra Pradesh High Court challenging the assessment made under the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act	 1957 on the turnover of packing material employed either by way of bottles for containing beer or by way of gunny bags for packing cement. The appellants challenged the application of such rate in assessments made in relation to the period before 8 July	 1983. The appellants also challenged the application of that rate proposed pursuant to section 6C in show cause notices issued by the concerned authority. Section 6C was inserted in the Act with effect from 8 July	 1983. The High Court while dismissing the writ petitions	 proceeded on the basis that	 having regard to the nature of the goods and to the trade practice in respect of beer and cement	 the containers were necessary concomitants in the transactions	 and the transfer of property in the containers was incidental or unavoidable	 that the sale transactions had to be regarded as composite and integrated sales of the containers and their contents and what was really sold was the bottled beer or the cement packed in gunny bags. The learned Judges expressed the view that the consideration paid by the purchaser to the dealer consisted not only of the price of the contents	 namely	 beer or cement	 but also included the price of the containers	 that is	 the bottles and the cartons in the case of beer and gunnies in the case of cement. While allowing the appeals and remanding the cases to the High 306 Court	 and in the case of the writ petitions	 while direct ing the assessing authority to determine the matters after allowing the dealers to show cause	 this Court	 HELD: (1) A transaction of sale may consist of a sale of the product and a separate sale of the container housing the product with respective sale considerations for the product and the container separately; or it may consist of a sale of the product and a sale of the container but both sales being conceived of as integrated components of a single sale transaction; or what may yet be of a third case	 it may consist of a sale of the product with the transfer of the container without any sale consideration therefore. The question in every case will be a question of fact as to the nature and ingredients of the sale. It is not right in law to pick on one ingredient only to the exclusion of the others and deduce from it the character of the transaction. In every case	 the assessing authority is obliged to ascer tain the true nature and character of the transaction upon a consideration of all the facts and circumstances pertaining to the transaction. [310C E; H; 311A] Hyderabad Deccan Cigarette Factory vs The State of A. P.	 [1966] 17 STC 624	 referred to. (2) There can be as many different kinds of transactions as the circumstances of the case may require either by reason of prevailing trade practice or market conditions or personal convenience	 and as human ingenuity may devise for bonafide reducing the burden of tax. Whether a transaction for sale of packing material is an independent transaction will depend upon several factors. [312E] (3) The issue as to whether the packing material has been sold or merely transferred without consideration de pends on the contract between the parties. The fact that the packing is of insignificant value in relation to the value of the contents may imply that there was no intention to sell the packing	 but where any packing material is of significant value it may imply an intention to sell the packing material. In a case where the packing material is an independent commodity and the packing material as well as the contents are sold independently. The sale of the packing material is liable to tax independently. [313E G] Commissioner of Taxes	 Assam vs Prabhat Marketing Co. Ltd.	 [1967] 19 STC 84; The State of Karnataka vs Shaw Wel lace & Company Ltd.	 [1981] 48 STC 169; Arlem Breweries Ltd. vs The Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax	 Panaji	 [1983] 53 STC 172; M/s. Jamana Flour 307 Mill (P) Ltd. vs State of Bihar	 ; and Punjab Distilling Industries Ltd. vs The Commissioner of Income Tax	 Simla	 [1959] Supp. 1 SCR 683	 referred to. Section 6C seems to envisage a case where it is the goods which are sold there is no actual sale of the packing material. The section provides by legal fiction that the packing material Shall be deemed to have been sold alongwith the goods. In that event	 the tax will be leviable on such deemed sale of the packing material at the rate of tax applicable to the sale of the goods themselves. It is diffi cult to comprehend the need for such a provision. It can at best be regarded as a provision by way of clarification of an existing legal situation	 which merely explains that the components which have entered into determining the price of the goods cannot be treated separately from the goods them selves	 and that no account was in fact taken of the packing material when the transaction took place	 and that if such account must be taken then the Same rate must be applied to the packing material as is applicable to the goods them selves. [314D E; 315A B] (5) It is difficult to accept the contention of the appellants that a rate applicable to the packing material in the Schedule should be applied to the sale of such packing material in a case under section 6C	 when in fact there was no such sale of packing material and it is only by legal fic tion	 and for a limited purpose	 that such sale can be contemplated. In the circumstances	 no question arises of section 6C being constitutionally discriminatory	 and therefore invalid. [315B C] (6) The High Court has proceeded on the assumption that what is charged is the price of the bottled beer or of cement packed in gunny bags. No attempt was made by the tax authorities to ascertain the facts of each case and to determine what were the actual ingredients of the contract and the intention of the parties. Assumptions had been made when what was required was a detailed investigation into the facts. Because of the lack of adequate and clear factual material	 the High Court also was compelled to proceed on the basis of generalised statements and broad assumptions. [315C E]