Appellate admission of corrected sales tax certificates allowed where no statute required filing before assessing officer.

A concessional sales tax notification did not require the prescribed certificate to be filed before the assessing officer as a condition for the concession. The appellate authority could admit corrected certificates under its wide power of further inquiry and additional evidence, especially where the assessee had originally produced certificates, later obtained corrected ones from government departments, and acted with due diligence and good faith. The Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act supported this approach, and the position under section 8(4) of the Central Sales Tax Act was distinguishable because that provision expressly required filing before the prescribed authority. The certificates were therefore wrongly rejected, and their acceptance in appeal was justified.

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Issues: Whether certificates produced for claiming concessional sales tax rate could be validly admitted by the appellate authority despite not having been filed before the assessing officer, and whether the Board of Revenue was right in directing their acceptance.

Analysis: The concessional notification under section 12 did not make production of the prescribed certificate before the assessing officer a condition for the benefit. Section 38(5) of the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1958 conferred wide appellate powers, including the power to make further inquiry and to admit additional evidence in a proper case. Where the assessee had initially produced certificates, later obtained corrected certificates from the Government departments, and acted in good faith and with due diligence, there was no reason to deny the concession merely because the corrected certificates were first filed in appeal. The case under section 8(4) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 was distinguishable because that provision expressly required furnishing the declaration to the prescribed authority.

Conclusion: The certificates were wrongly rejected by the Assistant Commissioner, and the Board of Revenue was right in directing their acceptance.

Ratio Decidendi: In the absence of a statutory requirement that concession certificates be filed before the assessing authority, an appellate authority may admit them in appeal under its power of further inquiry, if the assessee acted with due diligence and in good faith.

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