- (1.) In this application under Sec. 8 of the West Bengal Taxation Tribunal Act, 1987, seizure of goods and order of penalty passed by the Commercial Tax Officer, Durgapur Range, have been under challenge.
(2.) The case of the petitioner is that he imported 667 jars of vanaspati from Indore and the truck carrying the said goods reached Duburdih check -post on January 27, 2005 at about 11.30 p.m. without endorsing way -bill as no one was available at the check -post at the relevant time. On January 28, 2005, at about 12.30 p.m., the vehicle carrying the consignment was intercepted by the Commercial Tax Officer, Durgapur Range at Gopalpur. At the time of interception, the driver could not produce the way -bill endorsed at the entry check -post. On January 28, 2005, the way -bill was sent by speed post. On January 29, 2005 the petitioner sent a letter to the Commercial Tax Officer, Durgapur Range and submitted another way -bill. The Commercial Tax Officer accepted the said way -bill on January 29, 2005 but subsequently, he manipulated the date and mentioned the date of receipt as on January 31, 2005 and imposed a penalty of Rs. 2,51,250 at 50 per cent of the valuation of the goods seized. Learned advocate for the petitioner argues as the petitioner produced the way -bill within 48 hours, the seizure and imposition of penalty are not lawful.
(3.) Learned State Representative states that as the vehicle entered the State 3 without getting the way -bill endorsed at the entry check -post, the petitioner committed a violation of the statute and hence the seizure was made in accordance with law. He also referred to a number of decisions of this Tribunal mentioned in Prahlad Rai Khetawat v/s. Commercial Tax Officer, Central Section, [2001] 37 STA 42 (WBTT), Sailendra Nath Dutta & Brothers v/s. Commercial Tax Officer, Dalkhola, [2003] 42 STA 47 (WBTT) and Sunbeam Industries v/s. Commercial Tax Officer, Assansol Charge, [2005] 139 STC 262 (WBTT) :, [2003] 41 STA 149 (WBTT) in support of his contention. He also admitted that the Commercial Tax Officer received the way -bill on January 29, 2005 but as January 29, 2005 and January 30, 2005 were holidays, the date was subsequently changed to January 31, 2005.;