TMI Blog1965 (4) TMI 91X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y complied with. The said provisions may afford a guide for amending the relevant provisions of the Act and the Rules made thereunder, but do not furnish any help for construing them. - Civil Appeal No. 94 of 1964, - - - Dated:- 2-4-1965 - SUBBA RAO K., SHAH J.C. AND SIKRI S.M. JJ. P.K. Chatterjee for P.K. Bose, for the respondents. A.V. Viswanatha Sastri, Senior Advocate (P.K. Ghosh, with him), for the appellant. -------------------------------------------------- The judgment of the Court was delivered by SUBBA RAO, J.- This appeal on a certificate granted by the High Court of Calcutta raises the question of the interpretation of section 5(2)(a)(ii) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 (Bengal Act VI ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e attitude of the Commercial Tax Officer within whose jurisdiction the said dealers functioned, it was not able to furnish the duplicate forms for all the declarations that were lost. On August 8, 1957, the assessee applied for summoning the dealers to produce the necessary documents in order to prove that they had issued the declaration forms to him, but the said officer did not issue the requisite summons to the parties concerned. The assessee then filed an application to the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, West Bengal, for directions to issue duplicate declaration forms, but that application was rejected. The revision filed to the Revenue Board was also dismissed. On November 21, 1957, the Commercial Tax Officer made an order of assess ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ll sales to a registered dealer of goods of the class or classes specified in the certificate of registration of the dealer as being intended for the purposes mentioned therein. But the said exemption is made subject to a proviso. Under that proviso, in the case of such sales a declaration form duly filled up and signed by the registered dealer to whom the goods are sold and containing the prescribed particulars on a prescribed form obtainable from the prescribed authority has to be furnished in the prescribed manner by the dealer who sells the goods. Under rule 27A of the Bengal Sales Tax Rules, 1941, hereinafter called the Rules, a dealer who wishes to claim the said exemption shall on demand produce such a declaration in writing signed b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... her hand, contends on behalf of the respondents that a dealer can claim exemption under the said sub-clause, but if he seeks exemption he must comply strictly with the conditions under which the exemption can be granted. He argues that the clear terms of the clause, read with the proviso, impose a condition on a dealer for claiming exemption. Section 5(2)(a)(ii) of the Act in effect exempts a specified turnover of a dealer from sales tax. The provision prescribing the exemption shall, therefore, be strictly construed. The substantive clause gives the exemption and the proviso qualifies the substantive clause. In effect the proviso says that that part of the turnover of the selling dealer covered by the terms of sub-clause (ii) will be exe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... his reconciles the provisions of rule 27A with those of section 5(2)(a)(ii) of the Act, whereas the construction suggested by the learned counsel introduces an incongruity which shall be avoided. Section 21A on which reliance is placed has no bearing on the question to be decided. It only empowers the Commissioner or any person appoint- ed to assist him under sub-section (1) of section 3 to take evidence on oath etc. It can be invoked only in a case where the authority concerned is empowered to take evidence in respect of any particular matter; but that does not enable him to ignore a statutory condition to claim exemption. Sub-rules (3) and (4) of rule 27A are not helpful to the appellant. They provide only safeguards against abuse of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ntion of fraud and facilitating administrative efficiency, the exemption given is made subject to a condition that the person claiming the exemption shall furnish a declaration form in the manner prescribed under the section. The liberal construction suggested will facilitate the commission of fraud and introduce administrative inconveniences, both of which the provisions of the said clause seek to avoid. The decision of this Court in The State of Orissa v. M.A. Tulloch and Co. Ltd. [1964] 15 S.T.C. 641. does not help the appellant. That decision was concerned with section 5(2)(a)(ii) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947. That section was similar in terms to section 5(2)(a)(ii) of the Act in question, but there was no proviso to that secti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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