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TMI Blog2013 (8) TMI 859X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Act at least in the spirit of law - Filing of required form was the only mode to prove the existence of certain facts which had been done and if such form was not a forged or fabricated document and there was no element of fraud or suppression of facts, the defect, if any, was more in the domain of procedural part - procedural law lays emphasis on the spirit of law and not on form - The approach in such fact situation of courts should be justice oriented and not to find some fault here or there – Order set aside – Decided in favor of assesse. - Writ Tax No. - 951 of 2008 - - - Dated:- 12-4-2013 - Hon'ble Prakash Krishna And Hon'ble Ram Surat Ram (Maurya),JJ. For the Petitioner : Rakesh Ranjan Agrawal,Pramod Jain For the Respondent : C.S.C. ORDER (Delivered by Prakash Krishna, J.) 1. The only point mooted in the present writ petition is whether the Additional Commissioner Grade-I, Commercial Tax, Meerut Zone, Meerut is justified in granting the sanction under section 21(2) of the U.P. Trade Tax Act to reopen the concluded assessment proceedings relating to the Assessment Year 2001-2002 simply on the ground that one Form 3-B filed by the petitioner claiming con ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... said section opens with an obstante clause and has precedence over sections 3, 3A, 3AAAA and 3D of the Act. The State Legislature has provided special relief to certain manufacturers upon the fulfilment of the conditions mentioned therein for manufacture of specified goods . A manufacturer holding the recognition certificate shall be liable to pay tax at the concessional rate or be wholly or partially exempted from tax on the purchase of raw material or packing material, as may be notified in the gazette of the State Government in that behalf. Its clause (b) of section 4B (1) gives relief to a selling dealer to such manufacturers holding recognition certificate on furnishing by the selling dealer the prescribed form which is form 3- B. The Rule 25-B is the relevant rule which prescribes the document 3B the requisite form to be furnished by such manufacturer to its selling dealer to avail the benefit of concessional rate of tax or tax at nil rate, as the case may be. 6. In the present case, there is no dispute that the petitioner sold the liquid detergent to M/s. Modi Rubber Limited and M/s. Modi Tyre Factory were holding valid recognition certificate under section 4-B of the Act ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... efore furnishing a declaration form to the selling dealer, the purchasing dealer or one of the persons mentioned in sub-rule (1) of Rule 25-A shall fill in all the required particulars and shall sign it. Thereafter the counterfoil of the form shall be retained by the purchasing dealer and the other two portions marked "Original" and "Duplicate" shall be made over by him to the selling dealer : Provided that no single form shall cover more than one bill or cash memo, of more than one assessment year." (Source 2001 LLT part -V page 1) 10. These rules came into effect w.e.f. 1st of September, 2000. 11. Then, sub-rule (4) was amended and was substituted by the U.P. Trade Tax (Amendment) Rules, 2001 (w.e.f. 1.5.2001) by the following Rule:- (4) "Before furnishing a declaration form to the selling dealer, the purchasing dealer or one of the persons mentioned in sub-rule (1) of Rule 25-A shall fill in all the required particulars and shall sign it. Thereafter the counterfoil of the form shall be retained by the purchasing dealer and the other two portions marked "Original" and "Duplicate" shall be made over by him to the selling dealer : Provided that no single form shall cove ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on 617 of the Companies Act, 1956, having a yearly turnover of Rupees Five crore or more; or (ii) dealer having an yearly turnover of Rupees Twenty-five crore or more." (Source 2003 LLT Part V page 123) 14. Successive amendments in Sub-rule (4) of Rule 25 B as reproduced above would show that every time, the State Legislature has attempted to whittle down its rigour. Earlier, the Rule provided that in respect of each transaction, form 3-B in respect thereof should be given by the purchasing dealer to the selling dealer. To reduce the hardship, the Rule was amended by providing that one form 3-B may cover the sales for the entire Assessment Year, without restricting or prescribing any monetary limit. The monetary limit of Rs.5 Lakhs per form was prescribed by the U.P. Trade Tax (Amendment) Rules, 2001 w.e.f. 1st of May, 2001. A proviso -II was added by the U.P. Trade Tax (Amendment) Rules, 2002 to Sub-rule (4) by providing that the monetary limit of Rs.5 Lakhs in respect of transaction of sale and purchase shall not apply, the department of Central Government, or the State Government or a corporation or undertaking established or constituted by or under a Central Act or a U.P. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed in respect of dealer having a yearly turnover of Rs. 25 crores or more. The amendments carried on by the State Government are remedial and for the benefit of the business community as a whole and in respect of a person having large turnover in particular. Considering the object and purpose of the Rule 25 B, we are of the considered opinion that the Rule as it exists on the date of issuance of form 3B would apply. To put it differently, here form 3B was issued on 31st of May, 2003 i.e. after the commencement of clause (ii) to second proviso to Rule 35 B (4), therefore, Rule 25 B(4), as lastly amended will apply. 17. The argument of the learned counsel for the respondent that the Rule as amended on 20th of December, 2002 will apply has no force. The object and purpose of filing form 3B is to satisfy the requirements of section 4-B of the Act. The said requirement stands fulfilled here as it has been accepted for up to rupees five lakhs keeping in view the above object and purpose of section 4B, Sub-rule (4) should not be interpreted in a pedantic manner or narrowly. 18. Now, we may take note of certain observations of the Apex Court in Phool C. Gupta Versus State of Andhra Pra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d while construing a statute. Literal construction should be avoided if it defeats the manifest object and purpose of the Act. Therefore, in the well known words of Judge learned Hand, one cannot make a fortress out of the dictionary; and should remember that statutes have some purpose and object to accomplish whose sympathetic and imaginative discovery is the surest guide to their meaning. In the case of R.B. Jodha Mal Kuthiala v. Commissioner of Income-tax, Punjab, jammu Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh (82 ITR 570), this Court said that one should apply the rule of reasonable interpretation. A proviso which is inserted to remedy unintended consequences and to made the provision workable, a proviso which supplies an obvious omission in the section and is required to be read into the section to give the section a reasonable interpretation, requires to be treated as retrospective in operation so that a reasonable interpretation can be given to the section as a whole." 20. In this view of the matter, the amended Sub-rule (4) of Rule 25-B which includes (ii) of second proviso as it stood on the date of issuance of form 3B will be available to the petitioner. 21. Viewed as above, we ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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