2013 (7) TMI 901 - HC - VAT and Sales Tax

Summary

Issues involved:
The issue involves the imposition of penalty under section 22A(7) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1994 based on incomplete declaration form No. ST 18-A during a stock transfer of goods intercepted on August 8, 1995.

Details of the Judgment:

The assessing officer (A. O.) intercepted a vehicle on August 8, 1995, and found an incomplete declaration form No. ST 18-A during a stock transfer. The A. O. imposed a penalty under section 22A(7) of the Act. The respondent appealed, and the Deputy Commissioner (Appeals) allowed the appeal, deleting the penalty. The petitioner-Department then appealed to the Tax Board, which affirmed the decision of the DC (A) and dismissed the appeal.

The petitioner-Department argued that the penalty was justified due to the incomplete declaration form No. 18-A. However, the court found that carrying declaration form ST-18-A was not mandatory for stock transfers before March 20, 2000, as per a relevant notification. The court referred to a previous case where a similar issue was settled, concluding that no substantial questions of law arose in the present case.

Therefore, the court dismissed the sales tax revision petition based on the precedent and the application of the notification exempting the requirement of carrying declaration forms for stock transfers before March 20, 2000.