TMI Blog2015 (12) TMI 51X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... disposed of. - W. P. (C) No. 2 of 2007, W. P. (C) Nos. 6, W. P. (C) Nos. 10, W. P. (C) Nos. 96 of 2007 - - - Dated:- 23-6-2014 - DEEPAK GUPTA C. J. AND TALAPATRA S. J. B. N. Majumder, Somik Deb and R. Saha for the petitioners. S. Chakraborty, Additional Government Advocate, for the respondents JUDGMENT All these matters are being disposed of by a common judgment since identical law and facts are involved. 2. The petitioners are transporters and transport goods of various dealers. The allegation of the State is that the transporter has helped or actively connived with the dealer in facilitating the evasion of taxes. The question raised is whether a transporter can be held liable to pay tax and penalty in terms of Se ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bility on a transporter to pay tax and/or penalty, whether the subsequent insertion of Section 13A in the Tripura Sales Tax Act, 1976, vide the 8 th amendment, can be sustained? 4. The Division Bench decided these questions as follows : 147. In the result and for the reasons discussed above, the writ petitions partly succeed to the extent as indicated herein-below : 1. Penalty can be imposed on a transporter, who facilitates and/or abates (sic) evasion of tax and because of whose default, evasion of tax takes place. 2. Tax can be imposed on transporters by treating a transporter as a dealer by creating legal fiction so as to treat, in the prescribed circumstances, a transporter, as a dealer, and/or by raising a legal presumpti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n to examine the question of imposition of penalty for default, if any, of the petitioners in the light of the position of law as indicated above and if the petitioners and/or any of them are found to have violated the legal obligations cast by the statutes concerned, necessary penalty, in accordance with law, may be imposed, in accordance with law, on that transporter(s), who may have violated the law. 5. It has been pointed out to us that the State of Tripura has challenged the validity of this judgment before the Apex Court. We had given various adjournments and the State was directed to produce stay order, if any, granted by the Apex Court. No such order has been produced. We, therefore, dispose of the present writ petitions in term ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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