1979 (10) TMI 184 - SC - VAT and Sales Tax

Whether the amount of freight which was included in the "free on rail destination railway station" price, but which was paid by the purchasers and hence deducted from the price shown in the invoices sent to the purchasers, formed part of the sale price so as to be liable to be included in the taxable turnover of the assessee?

Held that:- The assessee could not be said to have filed "false" returns when it did not include the amount of freight in the taxable turnover shown in the returns and the Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax was not justified in imposing penalty on the assessee under section 43 of the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1958, and section 9, sub-section (2), of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956.

We accordingly reject the appeals in so far as they are directed against the inclusion of the amount of freight in the taxable turnover of the assessee, but allow the appeals in so far as they relate to imposition of penalty and set aside the orders passed by the Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax imposing penalty on the assessee.