Home Case Index All Cases VAT and Sales Tax VAT and Sales Tax + HC VAT and Sales Tax - 2016 (4) TMI HC This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2016 (4) TMI 484 - HC - VAT and Sales TaxSeeking release of consignment - Seizure of 207 cartons of Raga Shampoo under ‘Mal Roko Adesh’ - Petitioner contended that there was only a stock transfer from the company's branches and that there was no sale as such of the stock - Held that:- it was being asserted by the Petitioner that there was only a stock transfer from the company's branches and that there was no sale as such of the stock. What is surprising is that the impugned order does not even note the said contention much less deal with it. While an effort has been made in the counter affidavit to summarize the statements that were made before the VATO, the impugned order itself does not note any of these contentions. In particular, the assertion now made that at the time when the vehicle was intercepted, it was moving on Shahdara road and not stationary, is not mentioned in the impugned order. In the facts and circumstances, the Petitioner is justified in stating that there was no occasion for the VATO to have seized the vehicle and the goods under Section 61(2) of the DVAT Act. The assertion made by petitioner only meets with the bare denial in the counter affidavit and not a specific denial. It is simply stated “the contents of paras 24 to 26 are wrong and denied. Each and every averment made in these paras are specifically denied”. No attempt has been made to deal with the issue of authorisation enabling the VATO concerned to undertake the exercise of interception of the vehicle in question and to detain the goods. The impugned order of detention and the consequent order of assessment stands vitiated on this score as well. If the Delhi office of the Petitioner was registered under the DVAT Act, and has been regularly filing its tax returns and depositing the VAT and CST since 2006-07, and has been following the same system of receiving goods by way of stock transfer from its Chennai and other branches, the VATO should have in the instant case taken note of the facts and taken the trouble of discussing the circumstances under which the truck happened to be intercepted and the goods detained. What the Court has found in the present case is a complete non-application of mind by the VATO, not only to the facts and circumstances of the case but also to the requirement of the law. Therefore, the impugned detention order dated 10th September 2012 and the consequent order of assessment of tax and penalty are set aside. The amount deposited by the petitioner by way of tax and penalty shall be refunded in accordance with law. - Decided in favour of petitioner
|