9911796707
TMI Blog2009 (2) TMI 760X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s Tax Act, 1956 (for brevity, "the CST Act"). The nature of its business is to acquire oil seeds and cotton, which are Schedule C goods under the Act. All oil seeds are crushed into oil and khal. The oil is sent either to its branch use outside the State of Punjab where it has its sale outlets or are dispatched to the agents outside the State of Punjab for sale of the same on consignment basis. On July 9, 1991, the Check Barrier Officer at Mohali, intercepted one consignment, which was being carried in Truck No. PB-6201, loaded with mustard oil packed in tins. After scrutinising the documents accompanying the consignment, an interception note was issued. The petitioner appeared before the Officer of the barrier, who on scrutinising the documents was to determine the genuineness of the consignment. The petitioner apprised the detaining officer that on many earlier occasions such like consignments have been moving from Moga to outside the State and on one occasion it was intercepted and penalty was imposed under identical and similar circumstances, which had been quashed. However, a penalty of Rs. 60,000 was imposed for the instant consignment under section 14B(7) of the Act and it ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... appellant is to send the goods on consignment whereas the documents accompanying the goods along with the details mentioned therein regarding rates and actual amount of goods show that these goods were sold. From this it has been assumed by the Tribunal that the goods meant for trade on consignment basis and under transportation are not correspondingly covered by genuine and proper documents. In support of his submissions, learned counsel has placed reliance on a Division Bench judgment of the Karnataka High Court rendered in the case of Automobile Products of India Limited v. State of Karnataka [1991] 81 STC 414, which according to him squarely covers, and answers the question in favour of the petitioner and against the Revenue. He has further submitted that the provisions of the Karnataka Sales Tax ct, 1957, are in pari materia with the provisions of the Act and, therefore, the judgment would squarely apply to the facts of the present case. The learned counsel has also placed on record an affidavit dated October 30, 2006 along with copy of the assessment order dated December 16, 1996, passed by the Assessing Authority-cum-Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Moga, in resp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e of a goods vehicle shall carry with him a goods vehicle record, a trip sheet or a log book, as the case may be, and a goods receipt and a sale bill or cash memo, or delivery note containing such particulars as may be prescribed, in respect of such goods meant for the purpose of trade, as are being carried in the goods vehicle and produce a copy of each of the aforesaid documents to an officer in-charge of a check-post or information collection centre or any other officer not below the rank of an Excise and Taxation Officer checking the vehicle at any place: Provided that a dealer selling the goods from within the State or outside the State in the course of inter-State trade or commerce, shall also furnish declaration with such particulars, as may be prescribed. (3) to (5) . . . (6)(i) If the officer in-charge of the check-post or information collection centre or any other officer as mentioned in sub-section (2), has reasons to suspect that the goods under transport are meant for trade and are not covered by proper and genuine documents as mentioned in sub-section (2) or sub-section (4), or the driver has not stopped the vehicle as required under sub-section (3) or that the per ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ishing a security or even bank guarantee, etc. The expression "reason to believe" used in sub-section (6) of section 14B of the Act imposes an obligation on the officer in-charge of the check-post to act objectively and not merely on the basis of his arbitrary opinion formed. The example could be if the details given in all the documents do not tally with the goods in the vehicle then there may be justification for detention of the goods. However, the provisions do not permit the officer to go to the extent of determining the nature of the transaction, which, in fact, lies within the jurisdiction of the regular assessing authority. Therefore, the natural corollary is that the answer to the question is liable to be given in favour of the dealer and against the Revenue. For the aforesaid proposition we draw support from the following observation of the Karnataka High Court in the case of Automobile Products of India Limited [1991] 81 STC 414: (page 419) ". . . In our opinion, the plain language employed in the section as well as in its intendment does not clothe the Check-post Officer with jurisdiction to make an assessment as long as the documents carried in the vehicle satisfy the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
