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2013 (5) TMI 30 - MADRAS HIGH COURTProvisional assessment challenged - petitioner is registered under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 and Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 importing Superior Kerosene Oil and suppling to various industries - as per department the sale had occasioned inside the State of Tamil Nadu and it is not a case of inter-State sale - Held that:- The order of provisional assessment suffers from total non-application of mind as well as non-consideration of the documents and records produced by the petitioner. The authority states that she had examined the objections and copies of records and therefore the production of records is not in dispute. If the records were taken for consideration, it is not clear as to how the authority can state that no evidence was filed to show the movement of goods from other States to the local purchasers based on the covenant. This statement appears to be a fallacy, as the purchase orders had already been produced showing the origin of goods from Cochin to the purchaser at the State of Tamil Nadu. No evidence to show that the purchase orders were transmitted to the Cochin branch is not acceptable as the petitioner has submitted the central excise records to show the delivery of goods after import and the payment of central sales tax at 4% supported by the certificate issued by the Assistant Commissioner (Assessment), Special Circle-II, Commercial Taxes Department, Ernakulam. Those records have not been taken into consideration by the authority. Records have been camouflaged to show that they were inter-State sales from Cochin is also rejected as the authority has not taken pains to state as to which document has been camouflaged and in what manner to show the inter-State sales from Cochin. It is, therefore, clear that all these allegations are mere conjectures and surmises on the part of the authority, without analysing the documents produced by the petitioner and what makes the matter worse is that, there are no reasons recorded as to which of the documents are invalid under law and which of the documents have been camouflaged to show the inter-State sales and how those documents are inadmissible in law. The question of suppression, which is also the reason for levy of penalty, appears to be unsupported by any material. Thus the first respondent-Commercial Tax Officer has passed a non-speaking order, bereft of reasons, without application of mind to the records produced. The entire findings are in the realm of conjectures and surmises and, therefore, the petitioner was justified in approaching this Court to interfere with the same - the impugned order is set aside and the matter is remitted to the first respondent-authority for re-consideration of the entire issue with a direction to pass a reasoned order on merits after affording opportunity to the petitioner - in favour of assessee.
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