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TMI Blog1984 (7) TMI 338X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the period concerned or before or at the time of assessment," The Assistant Commercial Taxes Officer, Ajmer (hereinafter referred to as the assessing authority), imposed tax on inter-State sales at 2 per cent for the sales of Rs. 536 supported by C form, at 7 per cent for sales of Rs. 500 prior to 2nd March, 1963 not supported by C form and at 10 per cent for sales of Rs. 802 after 2nd March, 1963 not supported by C form. The assessee preferred appeals before the Deputy Commissioner (Appeals) which were allowed and the appellant was allowed to produce declaration under form C. The Department preferred a revision petition before the Board of Revenue, which held that the Deputy Commissioner was not at fault and could have allowed product ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pon the appellate authority to receive C form produced before him for the first time by the assessee by condoning the failure on the part of the assessee to produce it before the assessing authority. Non-observance of the register by the assessee in the matter of production of C form will inevitably deprive the assessee of the benefit of favourable taxation under section 8(1) of the Act. He also placed reliance on K.M. Chopra and Company v. Additional Commissioner of Sales Tax, Madhya Pradesh, Indore [1967] 19 STC 46. Mr. Bapna further submitted that where a dealer claims exemption he has to comply with the provisions strictly. Since the production of C form is mandatory its production before the assessing authority has to be strictly com ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e assessee will have to show sufficient cause for not furnishing the declaration before the assessing authority. This authority was followed in Hewitt Robine Incorporation v. State of Bihar [1973] 32 STC 146 by the Patna High Court. On the other hand, Shri V.K. Singhal and Shri J.N. Sharma, Advocates, drew our attention to a number of decisions of different High Courts wherein contrary view has been taken and it has been observed that the powers of the appellate authority are co-extensive with that of the assessing authority. Therefore, the assessing authority was competent to allow the production of the declaration and take the same into consideration and decide the appeal on that basis. They relied on Abraham v. Sales Tax Officer [1964] ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in C forms filed before the assessing authority, should have received and if they were found to be in order the Appellate Assistant Commissioner should have taken them into consideration, while deciding the appeal. Relying on a Supreme Court decision in Sales Tax Officer, Ponkunnam v. K.I. Abraham [1967] 20 STC 367 (SC), the Madras High Court in Gordon Woodroffe Co. (Madras) Pvt. Ltd. v. State of Madras [1968] 21 STC 120, held that no time-limit could be prescribed for filing the declaration. The Orissa High Court in Tata Iron Steel Co. Ltd. v. State of Orissa [1970] 25 STC 171 has held that the declaration can be filed within a resonable time before assessment is made; but even if the declarations are filed for the first time at the ap ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ecision in State of Tamil Nadu v. Arulmurugan and Company [1982] 51 STC 381 (FB) has observed that there is no provision in the Madras General Sales Tax Act and the Rules made thereunder which require that the certificate should be produced before any particular authority as a condition precedent for claiming the benefit and where the assessing authority rejected the certificate produced by the assessee on the ground that they were not in the proper form and the assessee applied afresh and obtained fresh certificate in the proper form and produced the same before the appellate authority, the appellate authority should not refuse to admit them and it had distinguished its earlier decision in K.M. Chopra and Company v. Additional Commissioner ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d on the assessing authority for the purpose of assessment must be so regarded to have been conferred on the appellate authority. Even a Tribunal can set aside the assessment for enabling the assessee to file C form which he had omitted to file in the original assessment. The Tribunal itself has power to receive C form at the time of appeal for sufficient cause. The Tribunal may either itself apply the concessional rate of tax to the turnover covered by C form or remand the case. We have considered the rival contentions made at the Bar and have also carefully gone through the numerous decisions cited before us. Even the Madras High Court has taken a different view in the later cases and so also the Madhya Pradesh High Court has taken a di ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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