Registration from date of application barred penalty for unregistered dealer treatment under sales tax law.

Penalty under section 12(5) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947, was held inapplicable where the dealer had already applied for registration before the relevant quarters. The provision was treated as targeting a deliberate failure, without sufficient cause, to apply for registration in order to avoid taxation. Because the registration application was made in February 1962, well before the quarters ending June 1962 and September 1962, the later issue of the certificate did not negate the prior application. Registration was therefore taken to operate from the date of application, and the dealer could not be treated as an unregistered dealer for those periods.

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Issues: Whether penalty under section 12(5) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947, could be imposed for the quarters ending June 1962 and September 1962 when the dealer had applied for registration before those quarters and the certificate was granted later.

Analysis: Section 12(5) authorises penalty only where a dealer, though liable to pay tax, has without sufficient cause failed to apply for registration. The provision has been construed to require a deliberate failure to apply for registration in order to avoid taxation. Here, the application for registration had been made in February 1962, long before the impugned quarters, and the later grant of the certificate did not alter the fact that the dealer had already sought registration. The principle that registration takes effect from the date of application applied, so the dealer could not be treated as an unregistered dealer for those quarters.

Conclusion: Penalty under section 12(5) was not leviable for the quarters ending June 1962 and September 1962, and the issue was decided in favour of the assessee.

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