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TMI Blog1994 (10) TMI 298X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a sale to the consumer, unless the dealer proves otherwise to the satisfaction of the assessing authority and for the purpose also furnishes to the assessing authority such declaration, obtained from the purchasing dealer, in such form and manner and within such period, as may be prescribed. The declaration referred to in Section 3-A.AA is contained in Form III-A as prescribed under Rule 12-A of the U. P. Sales Tax Rules, Rule 12-A (1) provides that a registered dealer who wishes to purchase any goods, liable to tax under sub-section (I) of Section3-A or Section 3-AA at the point of sale to the consumer, without payment of tax shall furnish to the selling dealer a certificate in Form III-A duly filled in and signed by him. The various sub-rules provide about the manner in which the purchasing dealer shall obtain the requisite forms from the assessing authority ; the manner in which the purchasing dealer shall use the forms ; the responsibility of the purchasing dealer for their safe custody and maintenance of record about their use, steps to be taken in case of loss ; surrender of unused forms on the cession of registration, etc. Section 3-B of the Act provides for liability of a p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... unt which would have been payable as tax on such transaction, had such certificate or declaration not been issued. Learned Standing Counsel, on the other hand, contended that in this case the disputed forms have been found to be non-genuine and the parties who purport to have delivered those forms to the revisionist were not registered dealers and hence the selling dealer i. e. the present revisionist was not entitled to the benefit of those forms. Form 3-A is issued in terms of Rule 12-A of the U. P. Sales Tax Rules. Sub-rule (3) provides that a registered dealer, who wishes to obtain blank forms, shall apply to the Sales Tax Officer withinwhose jurisdiction his principal place of business is situate. A perusal of the prescribed Form 3-A shows that it has to contain ; (i) signature of issuing officer ; (ii) seal of the issuing office ; (iii) date of issue ; (iv) name and address of the dealer to whom issued ; (v) number of registration certificate ; (vi) date from which it is effective. All these details have to be filled in by the officer who issued Form 3-A to a registered dealer. That registered dealer then gives such forms to the selling dealer after ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ing dealer has nothing to do with the misrepresentation of the purchasing dealer and the former is entitled to claim exemption on the basis of Form III-A admittedly issued by the purchasing dealer. 7. Learned Standing Counsel, on the other hand, contended that mere furnishing of Form III-A obtained from the purchasing dealer was not enough and that in terms of Section 3-AAA the selling dealer had to establish to the satisfaction of the assessing authority that the sale was made to a registered dealer and not to a consumer. According to him it is the burdren of the selling dealer to prove that the purchasing dealer was registered dealer on the date of transaction and also that the Form III-A furnished by the purchasing dealer was a gunine form issued to the purchasing dealer by the department. He placed reliance on M/s. Amar Iron Stores v. Commissioner of Sales Tax, 1986 UPTC 294. That was a case in which it was found that the concerned Form III-A was not issued to the dealer who had purchased the goods and furnished the same to the selling dealer and further that the purchasing dealer was untraceable. Reliance was also placed on a judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in M/s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rved that though the tax under the Act was levied primarily from the seller, the burden was ultimately passed on the consumers of goods because it entered into the price paid by them. Parliament with a view to reduce the burden on the consumer arising out of multiple taxation prescribed low rates of taxation, when transactions took place in the course of inter-State trade or commerce. This Court observed that indisputably the seller could have in these transactions no control over the purchaser. He had to rely upon the representation made to him. He must satisfy himselfthat the purchaser was a registered dealer, and the goods purchased were specified in his certificates but his duty extended no further. If he was satisfied on these two matters on a representation as recorded in the certificate in Form *C' the selling dealer was under no further obligation to see to the application of the goods for the purpose for which it was represented that the goods were intended to be used. If the purchasing dealer misapplied the goods he incurred a penalty under Section 10 of the Act. That penalty was incurred by the purchasing dealer and could not be visited upon the selling dealer. The s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... icate bad already been cancelled. What is to be remembered is that Form III-A is not an unilateral certificate/declaration prepared by the purchasing dealer itself. A part of it has the authentication of the sales tax officer issuing the same. The details required to be recorded therein by the sales tax officer have been mentioned by me in my judgment M/s. Bharat Iron Stores (supra), the relevant portion of which has been reproduced above. The Sales Tax Officer has to note down the name and address of the dealer to whom Form III-A in issued. Theregistration certificate number of the said dealer and the date from which it is effective. Therefore, while dealing with the selling dealer it is not open to the department to contend that the dealer whose name and address has been noted down by the sales tax officer in the appropriate column was nonexistent one or that the registration had been cancelled. As noted above, the Act has made specific provisions to punish a purchasing dealer who issues a false certificate. Those provisions are contained in Section 3-B and Section 15-A (i) and there is no provision whatsoever which burdens the selling dealer with liability in case it is found th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , Muzaffarnagar, that the registration of that firm was cancelled in the year, 1978 and that the said firm had not transacted any business with M/s. Indra Steels i. e. the present dealer. The Tribunal has upheld the denial of exemption to the dealer observing that since the registration of M./s. Kishori Lal Padam Kumar was cancelled in the year 1978 it had become unregistered firm and was not entitled to issue Form III-A. Neither the assessing officer nor the Tribunal has mentioned the exact date on which the registration was cancelled. There is, therefore, no finding that on 10th August, 1978 when the sales in question were made the registration of the firm had been cancelled. In any case, in view of the law as discussed above, the cancellation ofregistration would not effect the selling dealer unless it was shown that the selling dealer was owners of it. The fact that the Sales Tax Officer, Muzaffarnagar had intimated that M/s. Kishori Lal Padam Kumar had not transacted any business with the present dealer was also of no consequence in the absence of any material to show that Form III-A issued to the present dealer was not signed by any authorised person on behalf of Kishori Lal ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... used by the purchasing dealer. In this case too no collusion or lack of bona fides on behalf of the selling dealer is made out. The sales to M/s. Kumar Steel Corporation, Fatehpur were, therefore, entitled to exemption. 16. During assessment year 1979-80 also the dealer-respondent made certain sales to M/s. Kumar Steel Corporation, Fatehpur and for the reasons discussed above, I hold that the sales to M/s. Kumar Steel Corporation, Fatehpur were exempt from tax being covered by Form III-A. 17. During the assessment year 1979-80 sales were made to M/s. Bansal Traders, Bareilly as well and for the reasons discussed in relation to the proceeding year I hold that the dealer was entitled for exemption in respect of sales to this party. 18. Then we come to sales to M/s. Paras Nath Kamal Kumar, Rampur. The Tribunal has observed that these forms were not signed by any Sales Tax Officer. They were signed by some person by the name of Sri B.N. Bhalla who was never posted in the Sales Tax Office at Rampur. The Tribunal has further mentioned that the concerned Forms III-A were in a different pattern and formate which are quite different from those of genuine forms. 19. Therefore, in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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