Declaration forms may be considered during pending assessment, including appellate or revisional stages, for concessional inter-State sales tax treatment.

Where a sales tax rule requires declaration forms to be produced "at the time of assessment" but does not expressly bar later consideration, the forms may be taken into account while assessment remains pending before appellate or revisional authorities. The statutory scheme under section 8(4) of the Central Sales Tax Act requires the declaration for claiming concessional treatment in inter-State sales, and non-consideration of such forms can affect the merits of the assessment by denying a relevant statutory benefit. The analysis therefore treats the assessment process as continuing through appellate or revisional stages until finally concluded.

---

---

Issues: (i) Whether declaration forms produced with the appeal could be taken into account at the appellate or revisional stage under rule 4(4) of the Central Sales Tax (West Bengal) Rules, 1958. (ii) Whether failure to consider those declaration forms vitiated the orders and affected the merits of the assessment.

Issue (i): Whether declaration forms produced with the appeal could be taken into account at the appellate or revisional stage under rule 4(4) of the Central Sales Tax (West Bengal) Rules, 1958.

Analysis: Section 8(4) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 requires furnishing of the prescribed declaration to claim the concessional rate in inter-State sales. Rule 4(4) of the Central Sales Tax (West Bengal) Rules, 1958 requires production of the declaration at the time of assessment. The Court read the expression "at the time of assessment" as covering the entire assessment process, including stages where assessment is still pending before appellate or revisional authorities. The rule did not contain an express prohibition against consideration of the declaration forms at those later stages, and the statutory scheme required the forms for determining the applicability of section 8(4).

Conclusion: The declaration forms could validly be considered at the appellate and revisional stages, and the answer to this issue was in the negative against the revenue and in favour of the assessee.

Issue (ii): Whether failure to consider those declaration forms vitiated the orders and affected the merits of the assessment.

Analysis: Once the forms were held capable of being considered before the appellate and revisional authorities, their omission could not be treated as immaterial. The Court rejected the view that the omission caused no prejudice. The assessment under section 8 required a proper determination of whether the statutory declaration had been furnished, and non-consideration of the forms denied the assessee a relevant statutory benefit.

Conclusion: The omission to consider the declaration forms did affect the merits, and this issue was also answered in the negative against the revenue and in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered in favour of the assessee on both questions, with the declaration forms held admissible for consideration while the assessment remained pending before appellate or revisional authorities.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a sales tax rule requires a declaration form to be produced "at the time of assessment" but does not expressly bar its consideration at later stages while the assessment is still pending, the declaration may be taken into account by appellate or revisional authorities for determining the statutory concession under section 8(4) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956.

---