Contemporaneous sales records are mandatory under fiscal rules, and blameworthy failure to update accounts can be punishable without tax-evasion intent.

A registered dealer under the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Rules, 1957 was required to maintain a true and correct account of purchases and sales contemporaneously, with purchases entered in the day book when the goods were bought. The Court stated that keeping loose documents such as bills or railway receipts did not satisfy that accounting duty, because the rule contemplated an up-to-date account and no later time lag was authorised. It further held that breach of rule 45(1) was punishable under rule 64 if the failure was blameworthy; proof of a specific intention to evade sales tax was not necessary.

---

---

Issues: Whether a registered dealer under the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Rules, 1957 was required to enter the value of goods in the account immediately on purchase, and whether failure to do so constituted a punishable breach under rule 64 even without proof of an intention to evade tax.

Analysis: Rule 45(1) required every registered dealer to keep a true and correct account showing the value of goods bought and sold, and rule 64 made a breach of that rule punishable. Read with section 39 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act (VI of 1957), the rule was construed as imposing a duty to maintain the account contemporaneously and keep it up-to-date, because no time lag for later entry was prescribed. Keeping bills, railway receipts, or other loose documents did not amount to keeping the account contemplated by the rule. The Court further held that the relevant culpability under rule 64 lay in failure to take proper care to comply with the statutory duty; proof of a specific intent to evade sales tax was not necessary.

Conclusion: The failure to enter the purchases in the day book when the goods were bought was a punishable breach of rule 45(1), and the respondents were guilty under rule 64.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a fiscal rule requires a dealer to keep a true and correct account of purchases and sales, the account must be maintained contemporaneously and a breach is punishable if it is blameworthy, even without proof of an intention to evade tax.

---