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TMI Blog1972 (5) TMI 51X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rded the statement of the truck driver wherein he admitted that the declaration produced by him was not in accordance with the invoices and bills given by the petitionercompany to the transport corporation, which he was carrying. The driver wanted time to produce the parties before any order regarding seizure of the goods was passed by the Taxation Inspector, who agreed to grant him time. Shri S.R. Bhutani, a representative of the petitioner-company and Shri Bhagwan Dass, a representative of the Central Goods Transport Corporation, appeared before the officer-in-charge of Shamboo Barrier and explained that a clerk of the Transport Corporation had inadvertently filled in the figure "Rs. 50,000" instead of the real amount and that there was no intention to evade any tax in view of the fact that the original invoices and bills, which were being carried by the driver, showed the correct valuation of the goods. The officer-in-charge of the check post did not feel convinced and seized the goods on the ground that the declarations furnished in form ST XXIV were found to be incorrect. He called upon the general manager of the petitioner-company to attend his office within seven days pers ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... delivery note containing such particulars as may be prescribed in respect of the goods carried in the goods vehicle, or vessel, as the case may be, and produce the same before an officer of the department not below the rank of an Assistant Excise and Taxation Officer checking the vehicle or vessel at any other place. (3) The owner or person-in-charge of a goods vehicle or vessel entering the State limits or leaving the State limits shall also give in triplicate a declaration containing such particulars, as may by prescribed, of the goods carried in such vehicle, or vessel, as the case may be, before the officer-in-charge of the check post or barrier and shall produce the copy of the said declaration duly verified and returned to him by the officer-in-charge of the check post or barrier before any other officer as mentioned in sub-section (2): Provided where a goods vehicle or vessel bound for any place outside the State passes through the State, the owner or person-in-charge of such vehicle or vessel shall also obtain a transit slip (rahdari) in the prescribed form from the officer-in-charge of the check post or barrier of his entry into the State and deliver it to the office ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the officer-in-charge of the check post or barrier or any other officer not below the rank of an Assistant Excise and Taxation Officer shall have the power to seize the goods in respect of which the declaration is false: Provided that an officer acting under sub-section (6) or subsection (8) may, before or after such seizure, give to the person affected an option to pay, in lieu of seizure and in addition to the tax recoverable, a sum of money not exceeding one thousand rupees or double the amount of tax recoverable, whichever is greater. Explanation.-In this section, the expression 'goods vehicle' has the same meaning as is assigned to it in clause (8) of section 2 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, but does not include road transport plying in collaboration with rail transport." The power of seizure of goods as given by sub-section (8) of section 14-B, which is challenged by the learned counsel for the petitioner, is unconstitutional in view of the judgment of their Lordships of the Supreme Court in The Check Post Officer, Coimbatore, and Others v. K.P. Abdulla and Brothers[1971] 27 S.T.C. 1 (S.C.). In that case, section 42(3) of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959, was u ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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 check 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 check 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 person carrying his own goods even as personal luggage from one State to another or for consumption, because he is unable to produce the documents specified in clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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