2007 (4) TMI 665 - HC - VAT and Sales Tax

Summary

Issues Involved:
Imposition of penalty under section 78(5) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1994 based on the transit of goods and sale transaction, interpretation of section 6(2) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, verification of documents under section 78(2) of the Act, genuineness of documents presented during checking, and the validity of penalty imposition.

Analysis:
The revision petition challenged the penalty imposed under section 78(5) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1994 on the petitioner-assessee. The penalty was upheld by the Rajasthan Tax Board based on the checking of goods, specifically soyabean oil in a tanker. The goods were purchased by the assessee from a trading company but were later sold to another dealer while in transit. The penalty was imposed due to discrepancies in documentation and lack of entry in the books of account for the sale transaction.

The appellate authorities rejected the appeal of the assessee, upholding the penalty imposition. The assessee argued that the goods were sold in transit as per section 6(2) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. However, the Tax Board did not address this contention. The sale to the subsequent dealer was made after the initial purchaser refused the goods, with due Central sales tax charged. The documents presented during checking satisfied the requirements of section 78(2)(a) and (c) of the Act.

The court analyzed the scope of section 78(2) in conjunction with section 78(5) and emphasized that the assessing authority's verification should have been limited to the documents supporting the transit of goods. The court found that the assessing authority exceeded its mandate by delving into the entire sale transaction process. Moreover, the documents were not found to be fake or forged. Therefore, the court concluded that the penalty under section 78(5) could not be upheld in this case.

Consequently, the court allowed the revision petition, setting aside the orders of all three authorities below. The court directed the refund of the penalty amount, if already recovered from the assessee, along with interest as per the law. The imposition and confirmation of the penalty were deemed unsustainable in the eyes of the law, leading to the allowance of the revision petition without any costs.