Entry tax liability depends on proved import into the area, not mere possession by a non-dealer.

Entry tax under the Calcutta Metropolitan Area Act applies to the entry of specified goods from outside the area and is cast on a dealer, not on mere possession of the goods. A possessor who is not shown to be a dealer cannot be fastened with liability unless the authority proves that the goods were brought into the metropolitan area without payment of tax. The power to call for documents from a person in possession does not itself create liability or support an adverse presumption in the absence of an express statutory basis. On the facts proved, the tax demand could not be sustained.

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Issues: Whether, under the Taxes on Entry of Goods into Calcutta Metropolitan Area Act, 1972, a person in possession of specified goods can be subjected to entry tax in the absence of proof that the goods were brought into the Calcutta metropolitan area from outside without payment of tax, and whether any presumption arises against such possessor for failure to produce accounts or documents.

Analysis: The charging provision levies tax on the entry of specified goods into the Calcutta metropolitan area from outside that area, and the liability to pay tax is cast on the dealer. The statutory definition of dealer covers only specified categories, none of which includes mere possession of the goods. The assessment machinery under section 14(3) operates only when it is shown that the goods were brought into the area without payment of tax, and the power under section 14(6) to call for documents from a person in possession does not itself create a liability or a statutory presumption of import without payment of tax. Since no provision in the Act authorises such a presumption, and possession alone does not establish taxable entry, the demand could not be sustained on the material before the authority.

Conclusion: A mere possessor of the goods could not be fastened with entry tax on the facts proved, and no adverse presumption could be drawn in the absence of a statutory basis.

Ratio Decidendi: Entry tax under the Act is levied on the entry of specified goods from outside the area and not on mere possession within the area, and in the absence of a statutory presumption or proof of such entry without payment of tax, liability cannot be imposed on a possessor who is not shown to be a dealer.

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