2010 (9) TMI 461 - SUPREME COURT

Penalty – requirement of mens rea is an essential ingredient for the levy of penalty under Section 10(b) read with Section 10A of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 - object of Section 10(b) of the Act is to prevent any misuse of the registration certificate but the legislature has, in the said Section, used the expression "falsely represents" in contradistinction to "wrongly represents – Held that: - burden would be on the revenue to prove the existence of circumstances constituting the offence - mens rea is a condition precedent for levying penalty under Section 10(b) read with Section 10A of the Act

Furnishing of 'C' Forms - certificate of registration - Held that: High Court has deleted the penalty on the ground that apart from the fact that on earlier occasions the department had not raised any objection while issuing Form 'C' to the dealer, the dealer filed an application for amendment of the registration certificate as soon as he learnt about his fault. It is evident from the impugned judgment that the High Court has lost sight of the fact that the dealer had used Form 'C' to import items like sutli, tat, etc., in addition to the cotton waste. Assuming that the dealer was of the bona fide belief that cotton included the cotton waste, it is hard to believe that there was some confusion in the mind of the dealer in so far as other items were concerned. - Matter remanded back for fresh reconsideration.