Concessional sales tax relief cannot be denied for late Form XVII filing when declarations were produced before assessment.

A concessional sales tax rate under section 3(3) of the Madras General Sales Tax Act could not be denied merely because Form XVII declarations were not attached to the monthly returns, where they were produced before final assessment. The provision required furnishing the declaration in the prescribed manner, and rule 22 prescribed the form and attachment to the return, but the rule-making power could not add a time-limit not found in the statutory language. As the declarations were filed before the assessment order, the statutory requirement was treated as satisfied and the assessee remained entitled to the concessional rate.

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Issues: Whether the assessee could be denied the concessional rate under section 3(3) of the Madras General Sales Tax Act merely because the prescribed declarations in Form XVII were not attached to the monthly returns, when they were produced before final assessment.

Analysis: Section 3(3) granted the concessional rate subject to furnishing a declaration in the prescribed manner, and rule 22 of the Madras General Sales Tax Rules, 1959 prescribed Form XVII and required attachment of the original declaration to the return. The proviso did not expressly impose a time-limit requiring the declaration to accompany the return itself. Section 53 conferred rule-making power, but that power could not be used to read into the proviso a time-limit not supported by its language. The declarations having been furnished before the assessment order, the requirement of the provision was treated as satisfied.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to the concessional rate and could not be denied relief solely because the declarations were not filed along with the monthly returns.

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