9911796707
TMI Blog2014 (7) TMI 578X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the petition may be noticed. The petitioner is a dealer duly registered under the provisions of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005 (in short, "the Act") and is engaged in the business of trading of iron and steel goods. In the normal course of its business, the petitioner sold three consignments of goods, i.e., metal rolls vide bills Nos. 567, 568 and 569 dated January 2, 2014 for Rs. 4,22,442, Rs. 2,41,414 and Rs. 3,22,333, respectively. The petitioner booked the said consignments with M/s. Orissa Punjab Transport Company. The goods were loaded in the vehicle on January 2, 2014 by the said company. The said transporter had to pick up another consignment of goods, i.e., cycle parts from Ludhiana to which the petitioner had no connectio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as the transporter had to load more goods from Ludhiana and he had assured that the same would be got issued before the exit of such goods from the State of Punjab. It was also pointed out that in case the e-ICC forms would have been issued for the consignment of the petitioner, then the transporter at Ludhiana would not have been in a position to get e-ICC forms generated for the subsequent consignment of cycle parts in the same vehicle which was yet to be loaded from Ludhiana. The ETO however insisted that he would release the goods only on payment of 50 per cent. penalty or on furnishing of bank guarantee to the tune of 50 per cent. of the value of the goods. Thereafter, the petitioner took legal advice from his lawyer that as per amend ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , prayer for dismissal of the petition has been made. 4. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. 5. The point for consideration in the present case is whether the petitioner is entitled to release of goods by furnishing surety bond under section 51(6)(a) of the Act or the respondent can legitimately require the petitioner to furnish bank guarantee under section 51(6)(b) of the Act. 6. It would be expedient to refer to the relevant portions of sub-sections (1) to (4), (6) and (7) of section 51 of the Act which are material for the purposes of adjudicating the controversy involved herein. 7. According to sub-section (1) of section 51, in order to prevent or check avoidance or evasion of tax, the State Governm ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... goods and goods vehicle shall stop the vehicle and keep it stationary as long as may reasonably be necessary and allow the officer in-charge to check the contents in the vehicle by breaking open the package or packages, if necessary and inspect all records relating to the goods carried which are in possession of the driver or any other person. Sub-section (4) relates to the stopping of vehicle at the nearest check-post or information collection centre wherein the owner or person in-charge of the goods and goods vehicle enters the limits or leaves the limits of the State. He is also required to furnish a declaration in triplicate as mentioned in sub-section (2) along with the documents. Subsection (6) (a) provides that if the officer in-cha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 8. Rule 64B of the Rules, which is also relevant reads as under: "64B. Procedure for furnishing information in respect of inter-State trade or commerce of goods through virtual information collection centre.-(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in rule 64, the owner or person in charge of the specified goods, before putting the same into transit for export out of the State, for trade or commerce by any mode of transition, shall submit information in form VAT-12, through Virtual Information Collection Centre on the official website of the Department, i.e., www.pextax.com; or any other website as may be specified by the Commissioner. (2) Such owner or person in charge, after tendering of the aforesaid information through electronic mode ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... receipt, trip sheet or log book bill or cash memo, sale invoice, vehicle's record in which such goods are being transported. 10. Examining the factual matrix in the present case, it was not disputed that there was no check-post or information collection centre which had been crossed by the transporter while going from Mandi Gobindgarh to Cheema Chowk, Ludhiana, where the documents were checked. The vehicle had been sent to Ludhiana to get cycle parts loaded which were to be loaded on the metal rolls sold by the petitioner. It was thereafter that e-ICC form was to be generated. As urged by learned counsel for the petitioner, in case the e-ICC form had been generated by the transporter earlier, the goods which were to be fetched from Lu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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