TMI Blog2016 (3) TMI 376X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ould have informed the assessee and stopped the vehicle which he did not. Nothing could be shown by the learned counsel for the appellant-assessee except to urge that opportunity of hearing was not provided to it. The said contention was negated by the fact that in response to the notice issued to the assessee, two Advocates Mr. Varinder Gupta and Mr. Dharam Singh appeared on behalf of the assessee before the authorities and explained that the goods were purchased from Delhi but the documents of purchases and GR were lost in transit at Delhi. They also failed to produce the account books. Further, the documents were produced later on by the counsel for the assessee after 20 hours of detention. - Appeal dismissed - Decided against the assess ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iv) Whether respondent No.2 was justified to levy a penalty only on the basis of statement of driver without conducting any enquiry as provided under section 51(7)(c) of the Act ibid to prove an attempt to evade tax by the appellant? 2. A few facts relevant for the decision of the controversy involved as narrated in the appeal may be noticed. The appellant-assessee is a firm. It is engaged in the business of resale of pulses and other karyana goods at Kharar, (Punjab). It is registered under the PVAT Act and the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (in short, the CST Act ). It has been filing its returns regularly with the appropriate authority at Mohali and paying the tax in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions. The assessee i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ustody of the driver. Thereafter, the detaining officer forwarded the case to the ETO-cum- Designated officer for taking necessary action under section 51(7)(c) of the PVAT Act. Notice under section 51(7) of the PVAT Act was issued to the assessee for production of account books and to show cause as to why penalty under section 51(7)(c) of the PVAT Act be not imposed. According to the appellant-assessee, though notice was issued by respondent No.2 for 18.9.2008, the case was decided on 13.9.2008, thus denying the opportunity to the appellant to produce account books and other evidence to prove the genuineness of the documents submitted before the detaining officer. The detaining officer levied penalty of ₹ 2,84,600/- under section 51( ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... from the ICC barrier, Banur but he was apprehended and the goods were detained. If the driver had lost the documents in transit, as alleged, he could have informed the assessee and stopped the vehicle which he did not. Nothing could be shown by the learned counsel for the appellant-assessee except to urge that opportunity of hearing was not provided to it. The said contention was negated by the fact that in response to the notice issued to the assessee, two Advocates Mr. Varinder Gupta and Mr. Dharam Singh appeared on behalf of the assessee before the authorities and explained that the goods were purchased from Delhi but the documents of purchases and GR were lost in transit at Delhi. They also failed to produce the account books. Further, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... with him and had intention to evade tax. 5. The pulses are a taxable commodity in the State of Punjab therefore the appellant was obliged to carry the goods with the genuine documents relating to the goods. The contention of the appellant that the transaction was shown in Form VAT 15 for the period from 1.7.2008 to 30.9.2008 and the fact about its purchase was reflected in the relevant statement in Form VAT 19, therefore, there could be no evasion of tax is without any merit. The return of the above period was furnished at the end of the month of October 2008. The bill in respect of consignment was produced after a gap of about 20 hours. 6. In such circumstances, it was possible to incorporate the entry regarding the transaction in t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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