Retrospective registration under sales tax law treats the dealer as registered from application date, preserving deduction entitlement.

Retrospective registration under the Punjab General Sales Tax Act meant that a dealer whose certificate was later issued effective from the date of application was treated as registered from that date. The statutory scheme in section 7 and rule 5 was construed to permit such retrospective effect, and the later amendment to rule 5 was treated as clarificatory. Rule 26 was read harmoniously so that a declaration supported by the certificate later issued with retrospective effect was substantially sufficient at assessment. The purchasing dealer was therefore regarded as registered throughout the relevant period, supporting deduction under section 5(2)(a)(ii).

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Issues: Whether sales made to a dealer who had applied for registration under the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948, but received the registration certificate later with effect from the date of application, were sales to an unregistered dealer or a registered dealer for the purpose of deduction under section 5(2)(a)(ii).

Analysis: The statutory scheme of section 7 of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948, read with rule 5 of the Punjab General Sales Tax Rules, 1949, showed that the registering authority had power to grant registration effective from the date of application. The later amendment to rule 5 was treated as clarificatory and not as creating a new power. The expressions used in section 7(1) had to be construed consistently with the whole section so as to avoid unreasonable results that would penalise a dealer for administrative delay after the dealer had done all required to obtain registration. The requirement in rule 26 regarding the registration number in the declaration was also read harmoniously and was held to be substantially satisfied if the certificate later issued with retrospective effect was produced at assessment.

Conclusion: The purchasing dealer was a registered dealer for the whole period covered by the certificate, including the interval before the certificate was physically issued, and the assessee was entitled to deduction under section 5(2)(a)(ii).

Ratio Decidendi: Where the registration certificate is granted retrospectively from the date of application, the dealer is to be treated as registered from that date for the purposes of turnover deduction provisions, and procedural requirements in the rules must be construed harmoniously to give effect to that statutory position.

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