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TMI Blog1971 (2) TMI 108X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r in a lorry belonging to the second petitioner on 19th June, 1968, the Special Assistant Commercial Tax Officer (Evasions), Narasaraopet (R-1), stopped the vehicle and seized the goods on the ground that the way bill relating to them was defective and later passed an illegal order dated 1st September, 1969, confiscating 160 bags of urea. The facts giving rise to the other W. P. No. 5101 of 1968 are almost similar to those of W.P. No. 4815 of 1968. The petitioner in this case is a registered dealer carrying on wholesale business in jaggery. When 262 bags of jaggery purchased on his behalf in the Chittoor district were being transported to his place of business at Machilipatnam on 18th October, 1968, by means of a lorry, the Commercial Tax Officer, Chittoor (R-2), stopped the vehicle at a place lying 3 or 4 miles away from Chittoor though there was no check post there and high-handedly seized the goods notwithstanding that the way bill relating to them contained the required particulars, and had the same removed to his office at Chittoor. The next day he passed an order to the effect that the jaggery was seized pending further enquiry into the matter as the purchase vouchers were fo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... relating to the goods carried, which are in the possession of such driver or other person in charge, who shall, if so required give his name and address and the name and address of the owner of the vehicle or boat. (3) If any goods which are under transport by a goods vehicle or a boat are not covered by a way bill issued by the person who consigns the goods in such form and containing such particulars as may be prescribed, the officer in charge of the check post or the barrier or the officer empowered under sub-section (2) shall have power to seize the goods and to levy- (i) in the case of goods exempted under section 8 or section 9, a penalty not exceeding rupees five hundred where the non-production of the way bill was wilful; (ii) in the case of goods other than those exempted under section 8 or section 9, a penalty equal to five times the tax leviable on the goods where the non-production of the way bill was wilful: Provided that before taking action for the levy of penalty as aforesaid, such officer shall give the person affected an opportunity of being heard while making an enquiry in the manner prescribed. (4) Where the penalty levied under sub-section (3) is paid, th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... chase of goods carries with it the power to seize them and levy a penalty and also to confiscate the same on failure to pay the penalty within the prescribed time if they are not covered by a way bill containing the required particulars. Sri Anantha Babu does not dispute that the power to make laws on a specified topic takes within its ambit the power to legislate for matters which are ancillary thereto and that the State Legislature is therefore competent to enact suitable provisions for preventing evasion of tax while making laws for the levy of taxes on the sale or purchase of the goods; but he argues that the power to seize the goods and confiscate them is neither ancillary nor incidental to the exercise of the power conferred on the State Legislature by entry 54 of List II as, according to him, it is too much to assume that all goods transported by means of a vehicle or boat from one place to another within the State, without a way bill containing the prescribed particulars, are goods in respect of which payment of tax has been evaded. He cited the instances of a person moving his personal effects in a vehicle or boat from one place to another and an agriculturist transporting ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and reasonably comprehended in the power to legislate in respect of taxes on sale or purchase of goods. By sub-section (3) the officer in charge of the cheek post or barrier has the power to seize and confiscate any goods which are being carried in any vehicle if they are not covered by the documents specified in the three sub-clauses. Sub-section (3) assumes that all goods carried in a vehicle near a cheek post are goods which have been sold within the State of Madras and in respect of which liability to pay sales tax has arisen, and authorises the Check Post Officer, unless the specified documents are produced at the cheek post or the barrier, to seize and confiscate the goods and to give an option to the person affected to pay penalty in lieu of confiscation. A provision so enacted on the assumption that goods carried in a vehicle from one State to another must be presumed to be transported after sale within the State is unwarranted. In any event, power conferred by sub-section (3) to seize and confiscate and to levy penalty in respect of all goods which are carried in a vehicle whether the goods are sold or not is not incidental or ancillary to the power to levy sales tax. A p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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