Holding

The sale of a lottery ticket amounts to the transfer of an actionable claim and is not a sale of goods for the purposes of sales tax laws.

Summary

The Supreme Court examined whether the sale of lottery tickets falls within the definition of "goods" for the purpose of State sales tax statutes. The Court held that a lottery ticket is merely a token evidencing a chance to win a prize, which constitutes an actionable claim under the Transfer of Property Act, not a movable commodity. Consequently, the transfer of a lottery ticket is a transfer of an actionable claim and is outside the ambit of sales tax. The Court partially overruled the earlier decision in H. Anraj, which had treated lottery tickets as goods, and clarified that the right to participate in the draw is inseparable from the chance to win and therefore part of the actionable claim. The reference question was answered, and the pending appeals were directed to be heard on their merits.

Issues considered

Whether a lottery ticket qualifies as "goods" under Article 366(29A)(a) of the Constitution and State sales tax laws.
Whether the sale of a lottery ticket is liable to sales tax.
Whether the right to participate in a lottery draw is a distinct right separate from the chance to win.
Whether a lottery ticket represents an actionable claim within the meaning of Section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882.

Legislation cited

Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959s. 2(13)
Constitution of Indias. Article 366(29A)(a)
Sale of Goods Act, 1930
Transfer of Property Act, 1882s. 130, s. 3

Subjects

sales taxlottery ticketsgoodsactionable claimConstitutional lawArticle 366Transfer of Property Actsale of goodstaxation

Judgment

MIS. SUNRISE ASSOCIATES A
v.
GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI AND ORS.

APRIL 28, 2006

[RUMA PAL, B.N. SRIKRISHNA, S.H. KAPADIA, TRAUN CHATTERJEE B
AND P.P. NAOLEKAR, JJ.]

Delhi Sales Tax Act, 1975;

Lottery tickets-Whether goods-Sale of-Liability to sales tax-Held, C
sale of a lottery ticket amounts to the transfer of an actionable claim and
as such it is not a sale ofgoods for the purposes of the sales tax laws-Article
366(29A)(a), Constitution of India-Sections 3 and 130 of the Transfer of
Property Act, 1882.
D
On the question whether sales tax can be levied by States on the sale of
lottery tickets, a Bench of two-Judges has held in H. Anraj v. Government of
Tamil Nadu, [1986] I SCC 414, that a lottery involved (i) the right to
participate in the lottery draw, and (ii) the right to win the prize, depending
on chance. The Judges were of the opinion that while the second right was a
chose in action and therefore not 'goods' for the purpose of the levy of Sales E
Tax, the first was a transfer of a beneficial interest in moveable goods and
was a sale within the meaning of Article 366(29-A)(d) of the Constitution and
consequently subject to sales tax. Against the decision of the High Court of
Delhi dated 17th July, 1998 in Haryana State Lotteries v. Govt. ofNCT, (1998)
46 DRJ 397 disposing of a series of writ petitions construing H. Anraj and F
holding that lottery tickets were goods and are liable to sales tax under the
Delhi Sales Tax Act, 1975, several appeals have been filed before this Court.
In the appeal preferred by Sunrise Associates, the order of reference was
a
made on the prima facie view that there was no good reason to split lottery
into two separate rights and, therefore, the judgl!Jent in H. Anraj
reconsideration. Since in the case of Vikas Sales Corporation v. Commissioner G
ofCommercial Taxes, (supra), a Bench of three-Judges had agreed with the
decision of H. Anraj, it was necessary that the appeal had to be heard by a
Constitution Bench.

The appellants, who are dealers in the sale of lottery tickets, have
~I H
422 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A contended that H. Anraj wrongly drew a distinction between the right to
participate in the draw and chance to win the prize. Such bifurcation was
artificial as both were part of the same transaction. It was further contended
that even on the "two rights" theory each of those rights would be chose in
action. As far as the decision in Vikas Sales is concerned, it was contended
B that the additional reason given namely, free transferability for holding that
a particular thing was goods, was erroneous. It was pointed out that even
actionable claims such as negotiable instruments and debentures may be freely
transferable. As far as the DEPB is concerned, according to the appellants, it
was in the nature of a notional credit which an exporter acquires on export by
way of an entry in a passbook. This credit was utilizable by the importer to be
C adjusted against the import duty payable on goods imported. The credit was
freely transferable but it could not be said to be goods only by that reason. At
best it was an actionable claim. According to some appellants, the right to
participate in a draw which was held to be a sale of goods by H. Anraj was
only a right to service rendered by the lottery organizers. There was no
transfer of any moveable property in the entire transaction. It was also
D submitted that when there were divisible elements in a contract, the
predominant element would determine the nature of the right. As far as lottery
tickets were concerned, the right to participate in the draw was
overwhelmingly dominated by the element of the right to claim the prize by
the prize winner. It was contended that value wise the prize money constituted
E 90% of the total amount collected from the purchasers whereas the value of
~he right to participate would be limited to the administrative expenses for
holding the draw which accounted for the balance 10% of the monies
collected.

The State Governments have not taken consistent stands. The
F Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi advanced the very
arguments which had been made, considered and rejected in H. Anraj 's case.
It was submitted that the reasoning in H. Anraj did not require
reconsideration. It had held the field for several decades and had been followed
in a number of cases. It was submitted that a lottery ticket represents a
G commodity within the meaning of Article 366(12).

The State of Tamil Nadu on the other hand submitted that the lottery
ticket itself was a chattel or goods and, therefore, falls squarely within the
net of taxation under the Tamil Nadu Sales Tax Act. It was submitted that
there can be a value addition to the lottery tickets by valuing all the rights
H accruing to the holder of the ticket, but these additional rights did not detract
SUNRISE ASSOCIATES v. GOVT. OFNCT OF DELHI 423

from the fact that the lottery ticket itself is an item of merchandise and liable A
to be sold as such. Reliance was also placed on the General Clauses Act with
regard to the definition of moveable property. It was contended that since a
lottery ticket was not immoveable property it was moveable property and,
therefore, goods.

The State of Maharashtra addressed on the question whether the sale B
of a Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) should attract sales tax under the
Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959. It was submitted that considering the valuable
right conferred by the DEPB, it is an item of movable property and therefore
'goods' within the definition of the word in Section 2(13) of the Act. The
definition in common with other State Sales Tax Acts includes every kind of C
movable property other than actionable claims and money. It was submitted
that "actionable claim" as defined in Section 3 of the Transfer of Property
Act, is substantially different from the concept of "chose in action" in English
law and it was submitted that what is a 'chose in action' was not necessarily
an actionable claim. The reasoning in Vikas Sales was urged to be reaffirmed.
The other appearing States have adopted the arguments made on behalf of the D
NCT, Delhi and Tamil and Maharashtra.

Answering question referred to it, the Court

HELD: 1.1. The sale of a lottery ticket amounts to transfer of an
actionable claim and as such it is not a sale of goods for the purposes of the E
sales tax laws. A lottery ticket has no value in itself. It is a mere piece of
paper. Its value lies in the fact that it represents a chance or a right to
conditional benefit of winning a prize of a greater value than the consideration
paid for the transfer of that chance. It is nothing more than a token or evidence
of this right. There is no value in the mere right to participate in the draw F
and the purchaser does not pay for the right to participate. The consideration
is paid for the chance to win. There is, therefore, no distinction between the
two rights. The right to participate being an inseparable part of the chance to
win is therefore part of an actionable claim. (440-C-D; 441-H; 442-A)

H. Anraj v. Government of Tamil Nadu, (1986) 1 sec 414, partially G
overruled.

Vikas Sales Corporation and Anr. v. Commissioner ofCommercial Taxes
and Anr., [1996] 4 SCC 433; The State of Madras v. Gannon Dunkerley &
Co. ltd., (1958] SCR 379; United States v. Mueller, (1942) I ELR 224; Said
v. Butt, (1920) 3 KB 497; in· B.R. Enterprises v. State of UP. and Ors., (1999) H
424 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2006] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A 2 sec 100, referred to.
Tata Consultancy Services v. State of Andhra Pradesh, (20051 1 SCC
308; Jaffer Meher Ali v. Budge-Budge Jute Mills Co., (1906) 33 Cal. 702;
Bharat Nidhi Ltd. v. Takhatmat, (1969] 1 SCR 595; Union of India v. Sarada
Mills, (1972] 2 SCC 877, 880; State of Bihar v. Maharajadhiraja Sir
B Kameshwar Singh, (19521 SCR 889, 910; Official Trustee, Bengal v. L.
Chippendale, AIR (1944) Cal. 335 and Bhupati Mohan Das v. Phanindra
Chandra Chakravarty and Anr., AIR (1935) Cal. 756, relied upon.

Sesha Ayyar v. Krishna Ayyar, AIR (1936) Mad. 225, approved.

C Nirmal Agency v. Commercial Tax Officer, (1992) 86 STC 450, impliedly
overruled.

l.2. A lottery in essence is a chance for a prize, the sale of a lottery
ticket can only be a sale of that chance. There is no other element. Every
right can be sub-divided into lesser rights. When these lesser rights
D culminate in a legally recognizable right, it is the latter which defines the
right. The right to participate in the draw is a part of the composite right of
the chance to win and it does not feature separately in the definition of the
word "lottery". It is an implicit part of the chance to win. It is not a different
right. The separation is specious since neither of the rights can stand without
E the other. A draw without a chance to win is meaningless and one cannot claim
a prize without participating in the draw. In fact the transfer of the chance to
win assumes participation in the draw. (441-D-F]

State of West Virginia v. John Wassick, 156 W. Va. 128, 191S.E.2d283;
and Van Rasselv. Kroon, (1953] HCA 3: (1953) 87 CLR 298 (4 March (1953)
F and Jones v. Carter, 8 Q.B. 134, referred to.

CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 4552 of 1998.

From the Judgment and Final Order dated 17. 7 .1998 of the Delhi High
Court in C.W.P. No. 529of1997.
G
WITH

CA. Nos. 4553-4557/1998, 4913, 6256-6260/1998, 177-179/1999, 215512000,
6893 of2003 & SLP(C) Nos.2469, 2473, 2614, 2617, 2507, 2841, 5225-26, 5608,
11129, 11768 of2000, W.P. (C) Nos. 33/2002, 127/2005 & SLP (C) Nos. 18466/
H 2002, 1621012001, 690712002 and 1789412002.
SUNRISE ASSOC IATES v. GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI [RUMA PAL, J.] 425
H.N. Salve, K.K. Venugopal, T.S. Doabia, T.LV. Iyer, S. Ganesh, S. Kura(, A
P.N. Misra, Bhargava V. Desai, S.K. Singh, Ms. M. Grover, Ms. A. Singh, Ms.
S. Parwanda, Ms. N. Kanungo, Anil K. Kher, Kapil Kher, A.K. Jain, Rajesh
Jain, Devendra Singh, Dr. S. Balwada, H.R. Bhatia, M. Sumantaray, Ghanshyam,
Pradeep Misra, Sushil Kumar Jain, S.K. Bhattacharya, L.K. Paonam, S.P. Sharma,
Yogesh Jogia, Ms. Hetu Arora, K.V. Vijayakumar, Jay Savla, Vinay Kumar Garg,
Hari Shankar, K. Randhir Chawla, Pradeep Tara, Ms. Renu Saigal, Praveen B
Kumar, Ms. Prasanthi Prasad, T.P. Hariprasad, Ms. Anju Bala, Mrs. Padmavathy,
J.B. Ravi, M.P.S. Tomar, Mrs. Anil Katiyar, A. Desai, Jay Savla, Ms. Meenakshi
Ogra, Ms. Reena Bagga, K.K. Mani, K.B. Sandeep, K.V. Vijayakumar, D.S.
Mahra, Subramonium Prasad, Jai Kishore, Abhay Kumar, R.K. Adsure, Ajay
Siwach, P. Dahiya, Sandeep Sharma, T.V. George, Ms. Renu Sahgal, E. Abhar, C
S.K. Jain, Pradeep Agarwal, A.P. Dhamija, Ram Viwas, H.D. Thanvi, S. Singhania
and B.K. Sharma for the appearing parites.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

RUMA PAL, J. By an order dated 13th October, 1999 in Sunrise D
Associates v. Government of NCT of Delhi & Ors., [2000] I SCC 420, the
decisions of this Court in H. Anraj v. Government of Tamil Nadu, [ 1986] I
SCC 414 as well as Vikas Sales Tax Corporation & Anr. v. Commissioner of
Commercial Taxes and Anr., [1996] 4 SCC 433 (in so far as it affirmed the
decision in the H. Anraj) have been referred to this Bench for re-consideration.
E
The question in H. Anraj was whether sales tax can be levied by States
on the sale of lottery tickets. A bench of two-Judges held that a lottery
involved (i) the right to particip~te in the lottery draw, and (ii) the right to win
the prize, depending on chance. The learned Judges were of the opinion that
while the second right was a chose in action and therefore not 'goods' for F
the purposes of the levy of Sales Tax, the first was a transfer of a beneficial
interest in moveable goods and was a sale within the meaning of Article 366
(29-A)(d) of the Constitution and consequently subject to sales tax.

The immediate cause for the present reference was a decision of the
High Court of Delhi dated 17th July, 1998 in Haryana State Lotteries v. Govt. G
of NCT, (1998) 46 DRJ 397 disposing of a series of writ petitions which
construed H. Anraj and held that lottery tickets were goods and are liable to
sales tax under the Delhi Sales Tax Act, 1975. Several of the writ petitioners
before the Delhi High Court have challenged the decision of the Delhi High
Court before this Court. In the appeal preferred by Sunrise Associates, the
order of reference was made on the primafacie view that there was no good H
426 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006) SUPP. I S.C.R.

A reason to split a lottery into two separate rights and, therefore, the judgment
in H. Anraj required reconsideration. Since in the case of Vikas Sales
Corporation v. Commissioner o.f Commercial Taxes (supra), a bench ofthree-
Judges had agreed with the decision of H. Anraj, it was necessary that the
appeal should be heard by a Constitution Bench.

B The relevant provisions of law which formed the background in the
context of which the decision of H. Anraj was given are considered by us
prior to assessing the correctness of the decision. Entry 54 of List II of the
Seventh Schedule read with Article 246(3) of the Constitution gives the States
power to make laws with respect to "taxes on the sale or purchase of goods
C other than newspapers subject to the provisions of Entry 92(A) of List!". The
meaning of the expression "sale of goods" was considered by a Constitution
Bench in the The State of Madras v. Gannon Dunkerley & Co. Ltd., [1958]
SCR 379. The question arose in connection with assessment of sales tax
under the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1939 for the year 1949-50 on the
value of materials used by the respondent-assessee for the execution of a
D works contract. The Constitution, although it defines 'goods' under Article
366(12) as "including all materials, commodities and articles", contains no
definition of the expression 'sale of goods'. The Court held that the expression
'sale of goods' in the entry cannot be construed in its popular sense and it
must be interpreted in its legal sense. After considering various authorities
E as well as the provisions of the Sales of Goods Act, 1930, the Court held that
the expression 'sale of goods' is what it means in the Sale of Goods Act, 1930.
A contract for the sale of goods, acco~ding to Section 4(1) of the Sale of
Goods Act, 1930 "is a contract whereby the seller agrees to transfer the
property in goods to the buyer for a price".

F This classical concept of sale was held to apply to the entry in the
legislative list in that there had to be three essential components to constitute
a transaction of sale before tax could be imposed - namely, (i) an agreement
to transfer title (ii) supported by consideration, and (iii) an actual transfer of
title in the goods. In the absence of any one of these elements it was held
that there was no sale. Therefore, a contract under which a contractor agreed
G to set up a building would not be a contract for sale. It was one contract,
entire and indivisible and there was no separate agreement for sale of goods
justifying the levy of sales tax by the provincial legislatures. Parties could
have provided for two independent agreements, one relating to the labour and
work involved in the erection of the ~uilding and the second relating to the
H sale of the material used in the building in which case the latter would be an
SUNRISE ASSOCIATES v. GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI [RUMA PAL, J.] 427
agreement to sell and the supply of materials thereunder, a sale. Where there A
was no such separation, the contract was a composite one and it was not
classifiable as a sale.

The narrow definition put on the word "sale" by Gannon Dunkerley
was followed by Courts in several cases excluding other transactions such
as hire purchase, long leases etc. from the scope of "sale" on the ground that B
one or more of the three components of sale were absent. Consequently
Article 366 of the Constitution was amended by introduction of Clause 29A
which is to the effect that "tax on the sale or purchase of goods" for the
purposes of the Constitution would include six particular transactions which
were, by virtue of judicial decision, excluded from the phrase. We are concerned C
with the first class of transaction so included namely:

(a) a tax on the transfer, otherwise than in pursuance of a
contract, ofproperty in any goods for cash, deferred payment
or other valuable consideration;

xxx xxx xxx D

xxx xxx xxx

and such transfer, delivery or supply of any goods shall be deemed
to be a sale of those goods by the person making the transfer,
delivery or supply and a purchase of those goods by the person to E
whom such transfer, delivery or supply is made;

Therefore in order to constitute a deemed sale within the meaning of
Art. 366(29A)(a), there has to be 1) goods 2) a transfer of property in the
goods 3) valuable consideration. The requirement of an agreement for sale is
not necessary for constituting a sale under this sub-clause. The absence of F
any one of these elements would mean that the transaction far from being a
sale within the Gannon Dunkerley definition, would not even be a deemed
sale within the extended definition of sale under Art. 366(29A)(a).

Following the Constitutional amendment, the States amended their G
respective Sales Tax Laws to incorporate the constitutional definition of tax
on the sale or purchase of goods. The States of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal
were no exception. The Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act 1959 and the Bengal

-
Finance (Sales Tax) Act 1941 were both amended to incorporate new definitions
of 'sale'.
H
428 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A Section 20) and Section 2(n) of the Tamil Nadu Act defined 'goods' and
'sale' as noted in H. Anraj thus:

"20) 'Goods' means all kinds of movable property (other than
newspapers, actionable claims, stocks and shares and securities) and
includes all materials, commodities, and articles (including those to be
B used in the fitting out improvement or repair of moveable property);
and all growing crops, grass or things attached to, or fonning part of
the land which are agreed to be severed before sale or under the
contract of sale;

2(n) 'Sale' with all its grammatical variations and cognate expressions
c means every transfer of the property in goods (other than by way of
a mortgage, hypothecation, charge or pledge) by one person to another
in the course of business for cash, deferred payment or other valuable
considerations; -
Other clauses give extended meanings which are not material.
D
Similarly the expressions 'goods' and 'sale' were defined in Section 2(d)
and (g) respectively of the Bengal Act thus:

"2(d) 'goods' include all kinds of movable property other than
actionable claims, stocks, shares or securities;
E
2(g) 'sale' means any transfer of property in goods for cash or deferred
payment or other valuable consideration.

These definitions of 'goods' reflect the definition of the word in the
Sales of Goods Act, 1930 which reads:
F
"every kind of movable property other than actionable claims and
money; and includes stock and shares, growing crops, grass, and
things attached to or fonning part of the land which are agreed to be
severed before sale or under the contract of sale".

G All these definitions exclude inter alia an actionable claim from the
definition of "goods". An "actionable claim" has in turn been defined in
Section 3 of The Transfer of Property Act, 1882 as meaning:
....
"a claim to any debt, other than a debt secured by mortgage of
immoveable property or by eypothecation or pledge of moveable
H property, or to any beneficial interest in moveable property·not in the
SUNRISE ASSOCIATES v. GOVT. OF NCI OF DELHI [RUMA PAL, J.] 429

possession, either actual or constructive, of the claimant, which the A
Civil Courts recognize as affording grounds for relief, whether such
debt or beneficial interest be existent, accruing, conditional or
contingent".

The dealers' (who were the appellants in H. Anraj) contention was that
a lottery ticket was only a slip of paper or memorandum evidencing the right B
of the holder to share in the prize or the distributable funds and was merely
a convenient mode for ascertaining the identity of the winner. It was contended
that a sale of a lottery ticket was nothing more than a sale of a chance to win
a prize, and therefore, it was merely a contingent interest in money. Alternatively
it was submitted that the lottery tickets were in fact actionable claims within C
the meaning of Section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, and therefore,
outside the definition of "goods" under the Sales Tax Acts.

The Court in H. Anraj came to the conclusion that the transfer of a
lottery ticket upon consideration paid by the purchaser was not a mere
contract creating an obligation or right in personam between the parties, but D
was in the nature of a grant. The Court noted the various definitions of the
word "lottery" in dictionaries and authoritative text books and decisions of
the Courts and held that a lottery was composed of three essential elements,
namely: 1) chance, 2) consideration, and 3) prize. As we have mentioned
earlier, according to the learned Judges a sale of a lottery ticket conferred on
the purchaser two rights viz. a) the right to participate in the draw and b) the E
right to claim a prize contingent upon the purchaser being successful in the
draw. Both were held to be beneficial interests in moveable property, the
former "inpraesentf', the latter in faturo depending on the contingency. To
use the words of the Court:-

"Lottery tickets, not as physical articles, but as slips of paper or F
memoranda evidence not one but both these beneficial interests in
moveable property which are obviously capable of being transferred,
assigned or sold and on their transfer, assignment or sale both these
beneficial interests are made over to the purchaser for a price ...... the
G

-
two entitlements which arise on the purchase of a lottery ticket are of
a different character, inasmuch as the right to participate arises in
praesenti, that is to say it is a choate on perfected right in the
purchaser on the strength of which he can enforce the holding of the
draw, while the other is inchoate right which is to materialize in future
as and when the draw takes place depending upon his being successful
H
430 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A in such draw. Moreover, on the date of the purchase of the ticket, the
entitlement to participate in the draw can be said to have been delivered
into the possession of the purchaser who would be enjoying it from
the time he has purchased the ticket and as such it would be a chose
in possession while the other would be an actionable claim or a chose
in action as has been held in Jones v. Carter' and King v. Connare2
B on which counsel for the dealers relied. It is thus clear that a transfer
of the right to participate in the draw which takes place on the sale
of a lottery ticket would be a transfer of beneficial interest in movable
property to the purchaser and therefore, amounts to transfer of goods
and to that extent it is no transfer of an actionable claim; to the extent
C that it involves a transfer of the right to claim a prize depending on
a chance it will be an assignment of an actionable claim."

It was also said that :-"

"If incorporeal right like copyright or an intangible thing like electric
D energy can be regarded as goods exigible to sales tax there is no
reason why the entitlement to a right to participate in a draw which
is beneficial interest in moveable property of incorporeal or intangible
character should not be regarded as 'goods' for the purpose of
levying sales tax. As stated above lottery tickets which comprise such
entitlement do constitute a stock-in-trade of every dealer and therefore
E his merchandise which can be bought and sold in the market. Lottery
tickets comprising such entitlement, therefore, would fall within the
definition of 'goods' given in the Tamil Nadu Act and the Bengal
Act."

The Court also rejected the submission of the counsel for the dealers
F that a sale of a lottery ticket does not involve the transfer of any right. The
contention was that just as a company before it issues share capital does not
hold any of the shares which come to exist only in the hands of the
shareholders through subscribing for them, so in the case of a lottery the
promoter sponsoring it, does not have the right to participate in the draw or
G the right to claim the prize. Since one cannot 'transfer' what one does not
have, it was argued that there was no 'transfer' of any right by the promoter
to the purchaser of the ticket. The submission was rejected on the ground ....
I. 8Qb 134; 115 ER 825, 826.

H
2. 61 CLR 596. 607.
..
SUNRISE ASSOCIATES v. GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI [RUMA PAL, J.] 431

that the analogy was inapt as Joint Stock Companies were governed by the A
provisions of the Company's Act and Memorandum of Articles of Association
of the Company's whereas the issue of lottery tickets was governed by raffle
schemes and the rules framed therefor by the promoter containing provisions
which were entirely different. Secondly, the context in which lottery tickets
were issued was different from the context in which shares were allotted.
Moreover it was said that:- B
" ... the agreement that comes into existence as a result of the sale of
a lottery ticket by a promoter to a buyer is in the nature of a grant
conferring the two rights (the right to participate and the right to claim
a prize) as distinct from the right to receive or claim a prize in such C
draw, needs to be highlighted which has a significant bearing on the
question whether the lottery tickets would be goods or not. It cannot
be disputed that this right to participate in the draw under a lottery
ticket remains a valuable right till the draw takes place and it is for
this reason that licenced agents or wholesalers or dealers of such
tickets are enabled to effect sales thereof till the draw actually takes D
place and as such till then the lottery tickets constitute their stock-
in-trade and therefore a merchandise. In other words, lottery tickets,
not as physical articles but as slips of paper or memoranda evidencing
the right to participate i.n the draw must in a sense be regarded as the
dealer's merchandise and therefore, goods, capable of being bought E
or sold in the market."

The Court also relied upon the decision in United States v. Mueller to
hold that for the purpose of imposing levy of sales tax lottery tickets comprising
the entitlement to a right to participate in a draw will have to be regarded as
goods properly so called. F
Justice Mukharji (as His Lordship then was) concurred with some
hesitation with the decision of Justice Tulzapurkar, J. who delivered the main
judgment, particularly with regard to the question of transfer of a right by the
seller of the lottery ticket to the purchaser. This hesitation is more than clearly
brought out in his short judgment where he said:- G
.. "I have, however persuaded myself to agree with the order proposed
by my learned brother because the promoter of lottery in the cases
involved before us is the State and the grant is in derogation of the

3. (1942) I ELR 224. H
432 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A rights of the State. The State in my opinion, can create such right for
the first time, and such transfer of the right by the state as a promoter
would amount to a transfer of property and being in consideration of
a price can be sale of goods. I should, however, not be understood
to accept the position that if private lotteries are permissible and legal,
a point which need not be decided in these cases, in such cases sale
B of goods was involved or not."

Both learned Judges, however, agreed that the right to participate in the
draw under a lottery ticket was a valuable right and that lottery tickets, not
as physical articles but as slips of paper or memoranda evidencing the right
C to participate in the draw can be regarded as dealers merchandise and, therefore
goods which are capable of being bought or sold in the market.

The logical corollary of this was drawn by the Kamataka High Court in
the case of Nirmal Agency v. Commercial Tax Officer, (1992) 86 STC 450.
Given the dual nature of the rights involved in a lottery as decided by
D H. Anraj, the High Court said that sales tax could be levied only on that part
of the lottery ticket which had been held to amount to a transfer of goods.
The Assessing Authority would have to determine how much of the
consideration was. referable to the right to participate in the draw and how
much to the chance of winning, and thereafter assess the dealer on the first
part alone.
E
Vikas Sales Corporation & Anr. v. Commissioner of Commercial Taxes
and Anr. 4 was a case where the issue before this Court was whether REP
Licenses or replenishment licences were goods so that Sales tax could be
levied on their transfer. The REP licences gave permission to an exporter to
F take credit for the exports made. Such credit could be adjusted against import
duty if and when the exporter wished to import goods. The Import and Export
Policy, 1993, which contained the relevant provisions relating to REP licences
specifically permitted transferability of the licences. This Court considered the
definition of"goods" in the Constitution, in the Sales of Goods Act 1930, the
Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, the
G Kamataka Sales Tax Act, 1957, as well as the Kerala General Sales Tax Act,
I963 and said that all these definitions provided that goods mean inter a/ia
all kinds of moveable property. The definition of property in several authorities
was thereafter considered and it was concluded that the material on record
showed a uniform emphasis on the expansive manner in which the expression
H 4. [1996] 4 sec 433.
SUNRISEASSOCIATESv. GOVT. OFNCTOFDELHI [RUMAPAL,J.) 433
'property' was understood. It was noted that debts, contracts and other A
choses in action were chattels no less than furniture or stock in trade.
Similarly, patents, copyrights and other rights in rem were also included
within the meaning of moveable property. The Court rejected the argument
that REP licences were actionable claims within the meaning of Section 3 of
the Transfer of Property Act and said:-
B
"When these licences/scrips are being bought and sold freely in the
market as goods and when they have a value of their own unrelated
to the goods which can be imported thereunder, it is idle to contend
that they are in the nature of actionable claims. Indeed, in H. Anraj
the main contention of the petitioners was that a lottery ticket was in C
the nature of an actionable claim. The said argument was rejected after
an elaborate discussion of law on the subject. We agree with the said
decision and on that basis hold that the REP Licences/Exim Scrips are
. not in the nature of actionable claims." (para 35 pg.449)

Relying on the decision in H. Anraj and Vikas Sales Corporation the D
Delhi High Court in the judgment on which the referral order has been passed,
rejected a challenge to the constitutional validity of Section 4(l)(cc) of the
Delhi Sales Tax Act, I 975 as introduced by the Delhi Sales Tax (Second
Amendment) Act 1994 with effect from 2. I. I995. The amendment was challenged
by the dealers on various grounds. It was argued inter alia that the sale of
lottery tickets did not involve a sale of goods within the meaning of the Sales E
Tax Act, and that even if it did, only that right which was held to be a sale
namely, the right to participate in the draw could be subject to Sales Tax. The
value of the right to win the lottery prize would have to be segregated. The
Delhi High Court rejected the submissions based on its reading of the decision
in H. Anraj and Vikas Sales. F
We are not called upon to decide all the grounds taken by the appellants
impugning the decision except to the extent that the High Court relied on the
two decisions which are under reconsideration before us. The High Court
construed the decision in H. Anraj and held that it was an authority for the
proposition that lottery tickets themselves are goods. It was said:- G
"A reading of the judgment (in Anra1) in its entirety ...... .leaves no
manner of doubt that the lottery tickets have been held to be
merchandise or trading stock of the dealer and hence goods properly
so-called. Undoubtedly, one of the components of the lottery tickets
H
434 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A is a right to enforce the holding of the draw and to claim a prize but
that is a right running along with the lottery tickets. It does not
detract from the holding that the lottery tickets are goods. Even at the
risk of repetition we would like to stress that in H. Anraj-ll their
Lordships have held the lottery ticket comprising of two components
-
in the ·process of analyzing its juridical concept. But at more places
B than one they have clearly said (i) lottery tickets are movable property
as opposed to immovable property, (ii) the assumption of lottery
tickets being contractual documents cannot militate against their being
goods, (iii) till the draw takes place they are freely marketed as goods,
and (iv) they must be regarded as the dealer's merchandise or stock
c in trade freely changing hands. The lottery tickets have a value of
their own de hors their components".

Having held that the decision in H. Anraj decided that the lottery tickets
themselves were goods, the High Court differed with the view expressed by
the Kamataka High Court in Nirmal Agency v. Commercial Tax Officer (supra)
D which had proceeded on the basis that H. Anraj had held that the goods in
a sale of lottery tickets comprised of the rights to participate in the clraw and
the chance to win.

Before us the appellants, who are dealers in the sale of lottery tickets,
have submitted that H. Anraj wrongly drew a distinction between the right
E to participate in the draw and chance to win the prize. It was submitted that
such bifurcation was artificial as both were part of the same transaction. It
was submitted that even on the "two rights" theory each of those rights
would be choses in action. As far as the decision in Vikas Sales is concerned,
it was submitted that the additional reason given namely free transferability
F for holding that a particular thing was goods, was erroneous. It was pointed
out that even actionable claims such as negotiable instruments and debentures
may be freely transferable. As far as the DEPB is concerned, according to the
appellants, it was in the nature of a notional credit which an exporter acquires
on export by way of an entry in a passbook. This credit was utilizable by the
importer to be adjusted against the import duty payable on goods imported.
G The credit was freely transferable but it could not be said to be goods only
by that reason. At best it was an actionable claim.

According to some appellants, the right to participate in a draw which
was held to be a sale of goods by H. Anraj was only a right to services
H rendered by the lottery organizers. There was no transfer of any moveable
SUNRISE ASSOCIATES v. GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI [RUMA PAL, J.] 435

property in the entire transaction. It was also submitted that when there were A
divisible elements in a contract, the predominant element would determine the
nature of the right. As far as lottery tickets were concerned, the right to
participate in the draw was overwhelmingly dominated by the element of the
right to claim the prize by the prize winner. It was contended that value wise
the prize money constituted 90% of the total amount collected from the B
purchasers whereas the value of the right to participate would be limited to
the administrative expenses for holding the draw which accounted for the
balance I0% of the monies collected. Several other issues have been raised
on the merits of the decision of the Delhi High Court. As we have said, those
other issues will have to be considered separately at the time of disposal of
the appeals after we have disposed of the subject matter of this reference. C
The State Governments have not taken consistent stands. As far as the
Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi is concerned, it was
submitted that the very arguments which had been made, considered and
rejected in H. Anraj 's case were sought to be reagitated again by the appellants.
It was submitted that the reasoning in H. Anraj did not require reconsideration. D
It had held the field for several decades and had been followed in a number
of cases. It was submitted that a lottery ticket represents a commodity within
the meaning of Article 366(12).

The State of Tamil Nadu on the other hand submitted that the lottery
ticket itself was a chattel or goods and, therefore, falls squarely within the net E
of taxation under the Tamil Nadu Sales Tax Act. It was submitted that there
can be a value addition to the lottery tickets by valuing all the rights accruing
to the holder of the ticket, but these additional rights did not detract from the
fact that the lottery ticket itself is an item of merchandise and liable to be sold
as such. Reliance was also placed on the General Clauses Act with regard to F
the definition of moveable property. It was contended that since a lottery
ticket was not immoveable property it was moveable property and therefore,
goods.

The State of Maharashtra has addressed us on the question whether
the sale of a Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) should attract sales tax G
under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959. It was submitted that considering the
valuable right conferred by the DEPB, it is an item of movable property and
therefore 'goods' within the definition of the word in Section 2(13) of the Act.
The definition in common with other State Sales Tax Acts, includes every kind
of movable property other than actionable claims and money. It was submitted H
436 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A that "actionable claim" as defined in Section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act,
is substantially different from the concept of "chose in action" in English law
and it was submitted that what is a 'chose in action' was not necessarily an
actionable claim. The reasoning in Vikas Sales (supra) has been relied on,
which it was urged, should be reaffirmed. The other appearing States have
B adopted the argument~ made on behalf of the NCT, Delhi and Tamil Nadu and
Maharashtra.

It is necessary at this stage to clarify that the order of reference in
Sunrise v. NCT, Delhi (supra) is limited to the question whether lottery tickets
are 'goods'. We have not been called upon to answer the question whether
C REP licences (or the DEPB which has replaced the REP licences) are 'goods'.
Although we have heard counsel at length on this, having regard to the
limited nature of the reference, we do not decide the issue. The decision in
Vikas Sales was referred to only because it approved the reasoning in Anraj
and not because the referring Court disagreed with the conclusion in Vikas
Sales that REP licences were goods for the purposes of levy of sales tax.
D Indeed REP licences were not the subject matter of the appeal before the
referring Court and could not have formed part of the reference. The only
question we are called upon to answer is whether the decision in H. Anraj
that lottery tickets are goods for the purposes of Article 366 (29A)(a) of the
Constitution and the State Sales Tax Laws, was correct.

E The first dispute which has to be resolved is what H. Anraj in fact held.
Did it hold, as was found by the Kamataka High Court in Nirma/ Agency v.
Commercial Tax Officer, that the lottery tickets were goods only because they
represented the right to participate in the draw? Or did it hold, as has been
found by the Delhi High Court, that the lottery tickets themselves were the
F goods which were sold? The conflict is a direct consequence of the somewhat
ambiguous language used in H. Anraj.

A: In paragraph 23 of the report, the Court did say that lottery tickets
are moveable property and as such would fall within the expression "goods".
However, the Court qualified that statement immediately by saying that the
G questions whether tickets constituted goods properly so called or are slips
of paper or memoranda merely evidencing the right to claim a prize by chance
and whether these are actionable claims and hence excluded from the concept
of goods, would be considered subsequently in the judgment.

B: In paragraph 27 of the report (which we have quoted earlier), the
H
SUNRISEASSOCIATESv. GOVT. OFNCTOFDELHI (RUMAPAL,J.] 437

Court categorically stated that a lottery ticket was goods - not as a physical A
article but as a slip of paper or memorandum evidencing a) the right to
participate in the draw and b) the right to claim a prize contingent upon the
purchaser being successful in the draw. This is reiterated in paragraph 29 of
the report. It was also stated that for the purpose of imposing the levy of
sales tax, lottery tickets comprising the entitlement to a right to participate in B
a draw would have to be regarded as goods properly so called.

C: In the same paragraph the Court said what is transferred to the
purchaser is the right to participate in the draw. That is the 'goods' which
was a chose in possession. The same right 'has' been later described as the
beneficial interest in movable property, th1:1t i~· to say that the right was not C
the movable property itself.

D: Then again in paragraph 30 it was said:-

"30. It is true that this entitlement to a right to participate in the draw
is an entitlement to beneficial interest which is of incorporeal or D
intangible nature but that cannot prevent it from being regarded as
goods".

This again indicates that it is the right to participate in the draw which
was being described as the gootls. Otherwise it was not necessary to refer
to other incorporeal rights which had been judicially recognized as goods for E
the purposes of levying sales tax such as copyrights or intangible rights such
as electricity.

Ultimately, however, clarity in the matter is brought about by the
concurring judgment of Justice Sabyasachi Mukharji (as his Lordship then
was), when he said:- F
"I, however, agree with my learned brother that the right to participate
in the draw under a lottery ticket remains a valuable right till the draw
takes place and it is for this reason that licensed agents or wholesalers
or dealers of such tickets are enabled to effect sales thereof till the
draw actually takes place and therefore lottery tickets, not as physical G
articles but as slips of paper or memoranda evidencing the right to
participate in the draw can be regarded as dealer's merchandise and
therefore goods which are capable of being brought or sold in the
market".

In other words, the second conclusion which we have indicated against H
438 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A 'B', was the ratio. The lottery ticket was held to be merely evidence of the
right to participate in the draw and therefore goods the transfer of which was
a sale. To the extent that the lottery ticket evidenced the right to claim the
prize, it was not goods but an actionable claim and therefore not 'goods'
under the Sales Tax Laws. A transfer of it was consequently not a sale. The
B lottery ticket per se had no innate value. The interpretation by the Delhi High
Court of the ratio in H. Anraj was in our opinion erroneous.

Interestingly, some of the States, in particular the State of Tamil Nadu
have expressly jettisoned the reasoning in H. Anraj and have asserted that
the ticket itself is the subject matter of sale which is assessable to Sales tax.
C The submission is unacceptable.

The word 'goods' for the purposes of imposition of sales tax has been
uniformly defined in the various sales tax laws as meaning all kinds of
moveable property. The word "property" may denote the nature of the interest
in goods and when used in this sense means title or ownership in a thing.
D The word may also be used to describe the thing itself. The two concepts
are distinct, a distinction which must be kept in mind when considering the
use of the word in connection with the sale of goods. In the Dictionary of
Commercial law by A.H. Hudson (1983 Edn.) the difference is clearly brought
out. The definition reads thus:

E "'Property' -Jn commercial law this may carry its ordinary meaning of
the subject-matter of ownership. But elsewhere, as in the sale of goods it may
be used as a synonym for ownership and lesser rights in goods". Hence,
when used in the definition of 'goods' in the different sales tax statutes, the
word 'property' means the subject matter of ownership. The same word in the
F context of a 'sale' means the transfer of the ownership in goods.

We have noted earlier that all the statutory definitions of the word
'goods' in the State Sales Tax Laws have uniformly excluded, inter alia,
actionable claims from the definition for the purposes of the Act. Were
actionable claims etc., not otherwise includible in the definition of 'goods'
G there was no need for excluding them. In other words, actionable claims are
'goods' but not for the purposes of the Sales Tax Acts and but for this
statutory exclusion, an actionable claim would be 'goods' or the subject
matter of ownership: Consequently an actionable claim is movable property
and 'goods' in the wider sense of the term but a sale of an actionable claim
would not be subject to the sales tax laws.
H
SUNRISEASSOCIATESv. GOVT. OFNCTOFDELHI [RUMAPAL,J.] 439

Distinct elements are deducible from the definition of' actionable claim' A
in Section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act. An actionable claim is of course
as its nomenclature suggests, only a claim. A claim might connote a demand,
but in the context of the definition it is a right, albeit an incorporeal one. Every
claim is not an actionable claim. It must be a claim either to a debt or to a
beneficial interest in movable property. The beneficial interest is not the B
movable property itself, and may be existent, accruing, conditional or
contingent. The movable property in which such beneficial interest is claimed,
must not be in the possession of the claimant. An actionable claim is therefore
an incorporeal right. That goods for the purposes of Sales Tax may be
intangible and incorporeal has been held in Tata Consultancy Services v.
State ofAndhra Pradesh, [2005] 1 SCC 308. C
What then is the distinction between actionable claims and other goods
on the sale of which sales tax may be levied?

The Court in Vikas Sales (supra) said "when these licenses/scrips are
being bought and sold freely in the market as goods and when they have a D
value of their own unrelated to the goods which can be imported thereunder,
it is idle to contend that they are in the nature of actionable claims". It was
assumed that actionable claims are not transferable for value and that that
was the difference between 'actionable claims' and those other goods which
are covered by the definition of 'goods' in the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 and
the Sales Tax Laws. The assumption was fallacious and the conclusion in so E
far as it was based on this erroneous perception, equally wrong.

The Transfer of Property Act 1882, deals with transfer of actionable
claims in Chapter VIII of that Act. Section 130 of the Transfer of Property Act
provides that an actionable claim may be assigned for value. A right on the F
fulfillment of certain conditions to call for delivery of goods mentioned in a
contract is an actionable claim and assignable under Section 130. (See Jajfer
Meher Ali v. Budge-Budge Jute Mills Co., (1906) 33 Cal.702). There may also
be assignments of an actionable claim dehors Section 130 (See Bharat Nidhi
Ltd v. Takhatmat, [1969] 1 SCR 595). Negotiable Instruments, another species
of actionable clai~, are transferable under the Negotiable Instruments Act G
1881. Transferability is therefore not the point of distinction between actionable
claims and other goods which can be sold. The distinction lies in the definition
of actionable claim. Therefore if a claim to the beneficial interest in movable
property not in the vendee's possession is transferred, it is not a sale of
goods for the purposes of the sales tax laws.
H
440 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2006] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A An actionable claim would include a right to recover insurance money
or a partner's right to sue for an account of a dissolved partnership or the
right to claim the benefit of a contract not coupled with any liability (see
Union of India v. Sarada Mills, [ 1972] 2 SCC 877, 880). A claim for arrears
of rent has also been held to be an actionable claim (State of Bihar v.
B Maharajadhiraja Sir Kameshwar Singh, [ 1952) SCR 889, 910). A right to the
credit in a provident fund account has also been held to an actionable claim
(Official Trustee, Bengal v. L. Chippendale, AIR (1944) (Cal.) 335; Bhupati
Mohan Das v. Phanindra Chandra Chakravarty & Anr., AIR 1935 (Cal.) 756).
In our opinion a sale of a lottery ticket also amounts to the transfer of an
actionable claim.
c A lottery ticket has no value in itself. It is a mere piece of paper. Its
value lies in the fact that it represents a chance or a right to a conditional
benefit of winning a prize of a greater value than the consideration paid for
the transfer of that chance. It is nothing more than a token or evidence of
this right. The Court in H. Anraj, as we have seen, held that a lottery ticket
D is a slip of paper or memoranda evidencing the transfer of certain rights. We
agree.

Webster's Words and Phrases Permanent Edition, Vol. 25-A Supplement
defines a 'ticket' as "a printed card or a piece of paper that gives a person
a specific right, as to attend a theatre, ride on a train, claim or purchase, etc."
E The Madras High Court in Sesha Ayyar v. Krishna Ayyar, AIR (1936) Mad.
225 also held "tickets of course are only the tokens of the chance purchased,
and it is the purchase of this chance which is the essence of a lottery".

The sale of a ticket does not necessarily involve the sale of goods. For
F example the purchase of a railway ticket gives the right to a person to travel
by railway. It is nothing other than a contract of carriage. The actual ticket
is merely evidence of the right to travel. A contract is not property, but only
a promise supported by consideration, upon breach of which either a claim
for specific performance or damages would lie (Said v. Butt, 1920 3 KB 497).
Like railway tickets, a ticket to see a cinema or a pawn brokers ticket are
G memoranda or contracts between the vendors of the ticket and the purchasers.
Cases on whether the tenns specified on such tickets bind the purchaser are
legion. It is sufficient for our purposes to note that tickets are themselves,
normally evidence uf and in some cases the contract between the buyer of
the ticket and its seller. Therefore a lottery ticket can be held to be goods if
H at all only because it evidences the transfer of a right.
SUNRISE ASSOC IATES v. GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI [RUMA PAL, J.] 441

The question is, what is this right which the ticket represents? There A
can be no doubt that on purchasing a lottery ticket, the purchaser would have
a claim to a conditional interest in the prize money which is not in the
purchaser's possession. The right would fall squarely within the definition of
an actionable claim and would therefore be excluded from the definition of
'goods' under the Sale of Goods Act and the Sales Tax statutes. This was
also accepted in H Anraj when the Court said that to the extent that the sale B
of a lottery ticket involved a transfer of the right to claim a prize depending
on chance, it was an assignment of an actionable claim. Significantly in B.R.
Enterprises v. State of U.P.and Ors., [1999] 2 SCC 700 construing H Anrajthe
Court said

"52. So, we find three ingredients in the sale oflottery tickets, namely,
c
(i) prize, (ii) chance, and (iii) consideration. So, when one purchases
a lottery ticket, he purchases for a prize, which is by chance and the
consideration is the price of the ticket".

The further distinction sought to be drawn in H Anraj between the · D
chance to win and the right to participate in the draw was in our opinion
unwarranted. A lottery having been held to be in essence a chance for a prize,
the sale of a lottery ticket can only be a sale of that chance. There is no other
element. Every right can be sub-divided into lesser rights. When these lesser
rights culminate in a legally recognizable right, it is the latter which defines
the right. The right to participate in the draw is a part of the composite right E
of the chance to win and it does not feature separately in the definition of
the word "lottery". It is an implicit part of the chance to win. It is not a
different right. The separation is specious since neither of the rights can
stand without the other. A draw without a chance to win is meaningless and
one cannot claim a prize without participating in the draw. In fact the transfer F
of the chance to win assumes participation in the draw. The Supreme Court
of Appeals of West Virginia, in West Virginia in State of West Virginia v. John
Wassick, 156 W.Va.128, 191 S.E.2d 283, held that "free plays" which could be
won predominantly by chance for consideration by operating multiple coin
pinball machines for cash payoffs was a prize and the pinball machine
constituted the lottery. This indicates that a draw is merely a method of G
holding the lottery just as a pinball machine may be a method of holding the
lottery and does not constitute a separate right.

There is no value in the mere right to participate in the draw and the
purchaser does not pay for the right to participate. The consideration is paid
H
442 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A for the chance to win. There is therefore no distinction between the two
rights. The right to participate being an inseparable part of the chance to win
is therefore part of an actionable claim.

The authorities considered by the Court in H. Anraj do not support the
sub division of the chance to win into a further distinct right to participate.
B The Court sought to draw the distinction between the chance to win and the
right to participate by describing the former as a right 'in futuro' and the latter
as "in praesent1". Both the rights are in fact 'in futuro'. In any event the
distinction is immaterial to the question as to whether the subject matter of
the transfer is an actionable claim, since an actionable claim may be existent,
C accruing, conditional or contingent.
Even if the right to participate is assumed to be a separate right, there
is no sale of goods within the meaning of sales tax statutes when that right
is transferred. When H. Anraj said that the right to participate was a beneficial
interest in moveable property, it did not define what that moveable property
D was. The draw could not and was not suggested to be the moveable property.
The only o!Jject of the right to participate would be to win the prize. The
transfer of the right would thus be ofa beneficial interest in movable property
not in possession. By this reasoning also a right to participate in a lottery
is an actionable claim.

E We may with profit compare the views of other countries having similar
systems of law as our own as to whether the sale of a lottery ticket is a sale
of goods or an actionable claim. The High Court of Australia had held in Van
Rassel v. Kroon, (1953) HCA 3: (1953)87 CLR 298 (4 March 1953):

"The person in whose name the lottery ticket issues obtains the legal
F title to what is a chose in action".

In Jones v. Carter, 8 Q.B. 134 a lottery was held regarding the outcome
of a horse race. The subscribers paid a sum of money and then drew lots.
On each lot was written the name of a horse. If that horse won, the subscriber
G with the name of that winning horse got a prize. The original subscriber sold
his ticket to Jones. The horse named on that ticket won the race. When Jones
approached the organizers of the race for payment, they refused to pay. Jones
filed a suit for recovery of the money. His suit was dismissed on the ground
that there was no privity between the organizers of the race and Jones. The
court also held :-
H
SUNRISE AS SOCIATES v. GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI [RUMA PAL, J.] 443

"Though there may have been a valid assignment, it was of a chose A
in action; and the law does not pennit the party interested to sue on
such a transfer."

The views expressed correctly represent the law in this country as well.

We are therefore of the view that the decision in H. Anraj incorrectly B
held that a sale of a lottery ticket involved a sale of goods. There was no sale
of goods within the meaning of Sales Tax Acts of the different States but at
the highest a transfer of an actionable claim. The decision to the extent that
it held otherwise is accordingly overruled though prospectively with effect
from the date of this judgment.
c
We accordingly answer the question referred to us as indicated above.
Let the matters be placed before an appropriate Bench for disposal of the
several appeals on merits in the light of this judgment.

B.K. Referred question answered.