TMI Blog2023 (11) TMI 1024X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e, the very reason for imposing the penalty does not survive. Non reporting of goods before the ICC, Talwandi Sabo cannot be made a ground to impose the aforesaid penalty. It is held that the appellant- assessee is not liable to pay the penalty, as imposed by the respondent- department. Hence, the present appeal is allowed - HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE RITU BAHRI AND HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE MANISHA BATRA Present: For the Appellant : Ms. Nazuk Singhal, Advocate. For the Respondent : Mr. Saurabh Kapoor, Addl. A.G., Punjab. RITU BAHRI, J. 1. The instant appeal, under Section 68 of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005, has been filed against the order dated 03.06.2011 (Annexure A-6) passed by the Value Added ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... CC) enroute is at Talwandi Sabo in Punjab State. There is no ICC before Talwandi Sabo on this route and this was the nearest route adopted by the vehicles to come to Mandi Gobindgarh. Even earlier, the assessee s vehicles coming from Ajmer used to report the goods at Talwandi Sabo only and at no other ICCF. 4. The Tribunal, after examining the evidence, came to a conclusion that in the invoices, the number of Form VAT 49 has been mentioned, but this Form was not produced before the Detaining Officer/AETC/DETC. Only the bills and goods receipts were produced before the authorities below. Further, as per rough site plan, the distance between Kallianwali (Haryana side) and Kanakwal i.e. the place of interception of vehicles, is 03 Kms and i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er of the appellant firm, had admitted that this as on his directions that the drivers had adopted this unusual route and did not got to any ICC. It was held that since the goods were never reported at ICC, Talwandi Sabo, this was an attempt to evade the tax. Ultimately, the appeal qua entry tax of Rs. 51,186/- and penalty of entry tax to the tune of Rs. 1,02,372/- imposed under Section 4 (2) of the Punjab Tax on entry of goods in Local Ara Act, 2000, was accepted and to this extent the impugned order was set aside. However, penalty of Rs. 6,39,827/- imposed upon the assessee under Section 51 (7) (c) of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005, was upheld and appeal qua this amount was dismissed. 5. Learned counsel for the appellant has argu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... A perusal of the order dated 16.03.2012 (Annexure A-7) passed by the Tribunal while dismissing the application for rectification shows that the Tribunal had accepted that there was a difference of more than 6 Kms between both the routes. However, the application was dismissed on the ground that this was not the mistake apparent from the record. 9. The only short question for consideration before this Court is, if the distance has been wrongly reflected, why it cannot be corrected to absolve the appellant of the penalty imposed upon it vide the impugned order. It is not the case of the respondents that the drivers were not carrying the invoices/bills when the vehicles were intercepted by the competent authority. Once the drivers had accep ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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