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TMI Blog1962 (10) TMI 47X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... te is granted under section 9-A." 2.. The facts found are as follows: The petitioner started his business as a petty dealer on 1st February, 1957. But at that time his turnover was below the minimum prescribed for the purpose of assessment to sales tax. Nevertheless he applied for voluntary registration under section 9-A of the Orissa Sales Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) on 23rd February, 1957. There was considerable delay on the part of the Sales Tax Authorities in granting the certificate applied for. It was granted only on 25th July, 1957, and it was actually received by him on the 1st August, 1957. Till then he continued to be a mere unregistered dealer. But by the 31st March, 1957, the total transaction of the petitione ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed or not. Sections 9 and 9-A deal with registration of dealers. Section 9 says that the dealer while being liable to pay sales tax under section 4 shall get himself registered on pain of being subjected to penalties for non-registration as provided in the Act itself. The very language of this section makes it clear that as soon as the turnover of a dealer exceeds the prescribed limits [described in section 4(2)] he must get himself registered and on his failure to do so he is subjected to penalties under the Act. Section 9-A however is a new section inserted in the Act by the amending Act of 1950 providing for voluntary registration of dealers who are not liable to pay tax under section 4. This section says that any dealer whose turnover d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ne and a half times that amount. * * * " The words "any dealer has been liable to pay tax under this Act in respect of any periods and has nevertheless without sufficient cause failed to apply for registration", occurring in the aforesaid sub-section(5) of section 12 show that the dealer should first be liable to pay sales tax, secondly he must have failed to apply for registration when the liability arose and thirdly such failure must be without sufficient cause. From the very language of this sub-section therefore it must be held that it has no application to a case of voluntary registration when there is no liability to pay tax at the time of applying for such registration. Section 9-A, as already pointed out, was a later amendment, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... been made. Hence according to him neither the Patna decision (in which no application for registration had at all been made) nor the language of section 12(5) of the Act, would operate against him. But once it is held, as a matter of construction, that an application under section 9-A is outside the scope of section 12(5) of the Act altogether the mere fact that an application for such registration was pending becomes immaterial. The registration contemplated in section 12(5) is registration under section 9 and as no application for such registration had been made at any time there was failure to apply for registration "without sufficient cause" within the meaning of section 12(5). Mr. Bose also relied on some observations of a Division Be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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