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TMI Blog1997 (8) TMI 465X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ner, after receiving the bill and the endorsed goods receipt, took delivery of the goods from the transporter s office situated in the transport area at Chandigarh. An animal-driven cart, belonging to one Jagga, was taken on hire on April 26, 1997 by the petitioner to bring the goods from the transport area, Chandigarh to its business premises in Industrial Area, Phase II, Chandigarh. The said cart carrying the goods was intercepted by the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner for the purpose of checking under the Act and the goods were detained for verification. Cartman produced the bill dated April 26, 1997 issued by M/ s. Aggarwal Electric Store showing the value of goods at Rs. 3,75,800. The officer, after detaining the goods, issued a notice to the petitioner under sub-sections (6) and (7) of section 14-B of the Act. 3.. The petitioner has challenged the issuance of notice under section 14-B of the Act on the ground that the said section was not applicable to the goods being carried in an animal-driven cart but to a motor vehicle. Notice issued under section 14-B for the levy of penalty is said to be without jurisdiction on this ground alone, though otherwise also, th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the transaction. Goods can be sold during transit by making endorsement on the documents accompanying the goods as provided under section 6(2) of the Act but, in the present case, it was a sale within the State, i.e., a local sale from one registered dealer to another. 7.. Section 14B of the Act was substituted by the Punjab General Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1972 (Punjab Act 5 of 1973). The Central Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 87 of the Punjab Re-organisation Act, 1966, extended to the Union Territory of Chandigarh, certain enactments including the Punjab General Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1972 with certain modifications. Notification dated September 14, 1977 issued by the Central Government, thus, made the Punjab Act, as amended, applicable to the Union Territory of Chandigarh. 8.. Section 14B, as extended and applicable to the Union Territory of Chandigarh reads as under: Section 14-B.-Establishment of check-posts or barriers and inspection of goods in transit.-(1) If, with a view to preventing or checking evasion of tax under this Act, the Central Government considers it necessary so to do, it may by notification direct the establishment of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of his entry into the said Union Territory a declaration in the prescribed form and obtain from him a copy duly verified. The owner or person in-charge of the goods vehicle or vessel, as the case may be, shall deliver within seventy-two hours the said copy to the officer in-charge of the check-post or barrier at the point of its exit from that Union Territory, failing which he shall be liable to pay a penalty to be imposed by the officer in-charge of the check post or barrier of the entry not exceeding two thousand rupees or twenty per centum of the value of the goods, whichever is greater: Provided further that no penalty shall be imposed unless the person concerned has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard. (5) At every station of transport of goods, bus stand or any other station or place of loading or unloading of goods, other than a rail head or a post office, when so required by the Commissioner, or any person appointed to assist him under sub-section (1) of section 3, the driver or the owner of the goods vehicle or the employee of a transport company or goods booking agency, shall produce for examination transport receipts and all other documents and account ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on which date the officer shall submit the proceedings along with the connected records to such officer as may be authorised in that behalf by the Central Government for conducting necessary enquiry in the matter. The said officer shall, before conducting the enquiry, serve a notice on the owner of the goods and give him an opportunity of being heard and if, after the enquiry, such officer finds that there has been an attempt to evade the tax due under this Act, he shall, by order, impose on the owner of the goods a penalty not exceeding one thousand rupees or twenty per centum of the value of the goods, whichever is greater, and in case he finds otherwise, he shall order the release of the goods. (8) to (11)........................ Explanation I.-In this section, the expression goods vehicle has the same meaning as is assigned to it in clause (6) of section 2 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, but does not include road transport plying in collaboration with rail transport. Explanation II.For purposes of sub-section (7), service of notice on the representative of the owner or the driver or other person in-charge of the goods vehicle or vessel shall be deemed to be a valid ser ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... includes a chassis to which a body has not been attached and a trailer, but does not include a vehicle running upon fixed rails or a vehicle of a special type adapted for use only in a factory or in any other enclosed premises; 11.. As has been seen earlier, sub-section (2) of section 14-B of the Act enjoins upon the owner or the person in-charge of a goods vehicle or vessel to carry certain documents while transporting the goods. In sub-section (3) also, reference has been made to the goods vehicle or the vessel while empowering an officer in-charge of a check-post or barrier to examine the contents of the vehicle or the vessel. Since goods vehicle has been defined to be a motor vehicle in clause (8) read with clause (18) of section 2 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, that cannot give rise to a presumption that the power to inspect the goods in transit extended to the carriers other than a motor vehicle. Sub-section (6) does not indeed specifically refer to a goods vehicle or vessel but the entire scheme of section 14-B of the Act relates to the transportation of goods in a goods vehicle or a vessel. It cannot, therefore, be accepted, as argued by Shri Sawhney, that sub-sectio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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