BENGAL CEMENT CO. LTD. Vs. SALES TAX OFFICER, KHARAGPUR RANGE AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONER No. 1 is a manufacturer and reseller of cement under the brand name Bengal Tiger and a registered dealer under the West Bengal Value Added Tax Act, 2003 (in short "the VAT Act").

(2.) IN course of its business the petitioner -company purchased 677 M. T. of raw materials from My Home Industries Ltd., Hyderabad and imported said consignment of raw material by railway. The said consignment was unloaded at Nimpura railway siding on October 16, 2006. For the purpose of importing the aforesaid consignment the petitioner -company duly obtained way -bill No. A 2916930 from the assessing authority. The petitioner took delivery of the consignment from Nimpura railway siding on the same date, i.e., October 16, 2006 without producing the way -bill in the sales tax check -post at Nimpura for endorsement and transported the consignment to its factory at Serampore, District Hooghly.

(3.) THE petitioner -dealer duly appeared before the Sales Tax Officer and pleaded that the way -bill was not produced for endorsement at the time of taking delivery as the original invoice and other relevant documents did not reach the petitioner on that day and it had to take delivery of the consignment in order to avoid payment of demurrage to the railways.