1980 (8) TMI 176 - HC - VAT and Sales Tax

Summary

Issues:
Interpretation of the requirements for claiming a concessional rate of tax under section 8(1) of the Central Sales Tax Act based on the information provided in Form D.

Analysis:
The case involved a manufacturer of paper and effects who supplied goods to Government entities and claimed a concessional rate of tax under section 8(1) of the Central Sales Tax Act for the assessment year 1965-66. The issue arose when the Sales Tax Officer contended that the forms submitted by the assessee, which included purchase order numbers and dates but did not fill out all columns of Form D, did not meet the requirements for the concessional rate. The Sales Tax Officer's decision was upheld in the first appeal and by the Tribunal.

Form D, which is used for making government purchases, contains three columns labeled "counterfoil," "duplicate," and "original." The content in each column is the same. The critical question was whether all three columns needed to be filled out for the form to be considered appropriate. The Court, after examining the form, concluded that filling up any one of the columns in an appropriate manner satisfied the legal requirement. Therefore, the assessee's forms, which had complete information in the first column, were deemed sufficient and in compliance with the law, even though the other columns were not filled out.

The Court emphasized that the particulars in any of the columns of Form D could be correlated with the transaction, and filling out any one column adequately fulfilled the legal requirement. The Court rejected the notion that all columns needed to be completed for the form to be considered complete. As the assessee had provided complete information in one column, their claim for the concessional rate of tax should have been accepted. Therefore, the Court held that the assessee had the option to furnish any one of the three types of information in Form D, namely purchase order number and date, purchase as per bill/cash memo number and date, or supply under chalan number and date, to avail the benefit of the concessional rate as per section 8(1)(b) of the Central Sales Tax Act.

In conclusion, the Court ruled in favor of the assessee, stating that they were entitled to the benefit of the concessional rate of tax under section 8(1)(b) of the Central Sales Tax Act based on the information provided in Form D. The judgment was delivered by Misra J., with agreement from Das J., and no costs were awarded to either party.