TMI Blog2011 (9) TMI 905X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the penalty imposed upon the petitioner for not disclosing the correct figures of the gross turnover and the deficit in payment of sales tax for the assessment years 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000. The petitioner is a manufacturer of and a wholesale dealer in country liquor. The petitioner had several establishments at various places in the then State of Bihar. Since the year 1977 the State of Bihar had exempted the country liquor from payment of sales tax. The said exemption continued up to 1997. By Government Notification dated May 21, 1997 the said exemption was withdrawn and the sales tax at the rate of 25 per cent was levied upon the country liquor. The said notification was challenged by certain dealers including the petitioner in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on the petitioner for non-disclosure of the correct gross turnover and for the shortfall in payment of sales tax for the periods from (i) May 21, 1997 to March 31, 1998, (ii) April 1, 1998 to March 31, 1999 and (iii) April 1, 1999 to December 31, 1999. The aforesaid orders of the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes were confirmed in appeals by the Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Appeal, and in revision by the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes. The said orders were upheld by the Tribunal under the impugned judgment and order dated July 2, 2004. Therefore, the present writ petitions. The present writ petitions were heard and dismissed by this court on March 16, 2005. Applications for review, Civil Review Nos. 71 of 2005, 72 o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er was a grey area which has now been settled finally by the honourable Supreme Court and by the Patna High Court not until after 2000. He, therefore, concedes that the amount of excise duty paid by the petitioner on the country liquor manufactured by him indeed formed part of the sale price and was exigible to sales tax. Mr. Giri has, however, submitted that at the relevant time the issue was not yet settled. The liability of the manufacturer was not crystal clear. The petitioner was, there fore, justified in not including the amount of excise duty paid by it in the gross turnover returned by it. In support of his submissions, Mr. Giri has relied upon the judgments in the matter of B.K. Jaiswal v. State of Bihar [2000] 4 PLJR 463, of Ha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ner was not only deficient in payment of sales tax insofar as the petitioner did not disclose or include the amount of excise duty paid by him in the gross turnover; he was deficient in payment of the admitted taxes to the extent of crores of rupees. The admitted taxes also, the petitioner paid much later in the years 2000 and 2001, that too not the full amount. She has, therefore, submitted that the petitioner had wilfully and deliberately concealed the amount of gross turnover insofar as he did not include the amount of excise duty paid by him. Further, the petitioner also did not pay the admitted taxes within the statutory period. In fact, the petitioner avoided payment of sales tax until he was compelled to pay the same. The conduct of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ale or supply of goods; Explanation I.-Sale price shall include any amount charged by the dealer for anything done in respect of the goods at the time of, or before delivery thereof to the buyer. Explanation II.-Sale price shall not include the cash discount allowed by the dealer according to the ordinary trade practice if shown separately. It shall also not include the cost for transport of the goods from the seller to the buyer, provided such cost is separately charged to the buyer. The gross turnover is the aggregate of the sale prices received and receivable by a dealer. The sale price is the amount payable to a dealer as valuable consideration for the goods supplied. The meaning of the aforesaid terms has been the subject- ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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