9911796707
TMI Blog2006 (11) TMI 613X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on September 8, 2004 imposing penalty under section 76 of the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994 for the four quarters ending on March 31, 2002. Admittedly the petitioner having been a registered dealer, during the period of four quarters ending on March 31, 2002 imported iron steel from SAIL, Bokaro worth Rs. 8,05,38,589 but in the return and books of account, the petitioner showed Rs. 3,20,52,853 as purchase on import and the balance amount of Rs. 4,84,85,736 was shown as local purchase because the bills were forwarded from the local, i.e., the Kolkata office of the SAIL; the petitioner did not collect sales tax on the said sale shown as local purchase and sought for exemption of this local purchase under section 17(3)(a)(vi) of the West Be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on on the point of law. The only point for consideration is therefore whether the petitioner had mala fide intention to evade tax by showing the purchase of Rs. 4,84,85,736 as local purchase. The dealer showed some purchases as local purchases on the ground that the bills thereof were sent from the local office. I do not agree that the entry into the books of account itself negates mala fide intention. But the dealer's application claiming exemption under section 17(3)(a)(vi) of the WBST Act for the said period of four quarters ended March 31, 2002 indicates that he did not conceal the purchase and sale of the amount under examination though this provision for the said exemption had been omitted with effect from April 1, 1999. The othe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... amy Nadar & Sons v. Commercial Tax Officer-III, Virudhu Nagar reported in [2004] 136 STC 606 (Mad) the honourable court held that the petitioner claims to be a reputed and established dealer in cardamom and chillies, etc., for nearly four decades. They failed to disclose the details in the monthly returns. It is rather difficult to accept that such mistakes had crept in bona fide and the intention was obvious, namely, viz., to postpone the tax legitimately due to the Government or to defraud the Revenue. Their merely filing a statement in response to a notice and their paying the tax due ultimately after the final assessment order, would not come to their rescue. The fact of our case is not simple like the fact of this reported case of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on the facts of this case. The learned Senior Advocate Sri Sumit Chakraborty for the petitioner relying on the decision of the honourable Bombay High Court in the case D. M. Dahanukar v. Commissioner of Income-tax, Bombay reported in [1967] 65 ITR 280 of the honourable Madhya Pradesh High Court in the case J.K. Jajoo v. Commissioner of Income-tax reported in [1990] 181 ITR 410 of the honourable Supreme Court of India in the case Cement Marketing Co. of India v. Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax, Indore reported in [1980] 45 STC 197 (SC); [1980] 124 ITR 15 and of the honourable Madras High Court in the case of State of Tamil Nadu v. Periyar District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited reported in [1999] 116 STC 123 contended that whe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uld not be held that the claim for expenditure made by the assessee was false or inaccurate to his knowledge or was a result of gross negligence. I agree that the same principle can be applied on the fact of our case also because here also the petitioner had applied to the taxing authority for exemption from payment of sales tax on the disputed amount before detection of the nature of purchase by the taxing authority though the said provision of exemption had been omitted from the statute. In the case of State of Tamil Nadu v. Periyar District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited reported in [1999] 116 STC 123 (Mad) the dealer bona fidely believed that it was claiming exemption in accordance with the law and therefore it did not inclu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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