Form J deduction under sales tax law cannot be denied by importing an unstated time limit for the selling dealer.

Deduction under section 8(b) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act depended on production of a prescribed Form J certificate by the purchasing dealer, not on proof that the certificate was issued before despatch of goods or within six months of sale. The statutory scheme placed the six-month condition on the purchasing dealer's subsequent resale, while the selling dealer's entitlement to deduction was not subject to any implied time limit. The Act's own safeguards, including penalties for false certificates, addressed misuse, so no additional condition could be read into the deduction provision.

---

---

Issues: Whether, under section 8(b) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953, the selling dealer was required to show that Form J certificates were issued within six months of the sale or before despatch of the goods, in order to claim deduction from turnover.

Analysis: The deduction under section 8(b) turned on production of a prescribed certificate by an authorised purchasing dealer declaring that the goods were intended for sale in the course of inter-State trade or commerce or export. The statutory scheme, read with the authorization and record-keeping requirements in the Rules and the liability to purchase tax under section 10(b), placed the six-month condition on the purchasing dealer's subsequent sale of the goods, not on the selling dealer's receipt of the certificate. The provision did not speak of despatch of goods in the relevant period, and there was no warrant to import a time limit for obtaining the certificate. Section 39A also provided a penalty for false certificates, indicating that the Act supplied its own safeguard against misuse.

Conclusion: The selling dealer was not required to prove that Form J was issued before despatch or within six months of sale, and the disallowance of deduction on that ground was unjustified.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute requires a prescribed certificate as a condition for deduction, and the time-bound obligation is imposed on the purchasing dealer's resale within six months, no additional time limit can be read into the selling dealer's entitlement to deduction unless the statute expressly provides it.

---