- (1.) This petition has been filed impugning the order dated 13.02.2012 passed by the Rajasthan Tax Board, Ajmer upholding the order dated 28.07.2007, passed by the Deputy Commissioner (Appeals), Jodhpur setting aside the levy of penalty on the respondent-assessee under Section 76(6) of the Rajasthan VAT Act, 2003 (hereinafter 'the Act of 2003').
(2.) The facts of the case are that the vehicle of the respondent-assessee was checked by the Assistant Commercial Taxes Officer, Flying Squad, Bharatpur whereunder mustard solvent extract oil was being transported from Alwar (Rajasthan) to Morena (Madhya Pradesh). In the course of checking by the Sales Tax Department, it was found that the goods in transit were accompanied by all documents required under Section 76(2)(b) of the Act of 2003 such as goods receipt, bills, declaration in VAT 49 and also declaration form in ST 49 from Madhya Pradesh. The documents were thus complete. However, the petitioner-ACTO was of the opinion that the inter-state sale by the respondent-assessee from its Alwar office to its own branch in Morena was vitiated/illegal and on this count alone penalty under Section 76(6) of the Act of 2003 was levied.
(3.) The matter was considered by the Deputy Commissioner (Appeals) in appeal, who taking into consideration the fact that all the requisite documents were in accompaniment of the goods in transit and that no inquiry was held to hold that there was any intent to evade the tax, set aside the order of penalty. More importantly, it was also noted that the goods in transit in the course of inter-state sale had also been visited by 2% tax as otherwise leviable on such sale. The Deputy Commissioner (Appeals) further found that in the event the inter-state sale was not valid, the said sale could be discarded by the Assistant Commercial Taxes Officer in the course of regular assessment of the respondent-assessee. So holding, the penalty under Section 76(6) of the Act of 2003 was set aside.;