Strict compliance with Form C requirements governs concessional sales tax relief; missing registration details cannot be cured later.

Concessional tax under section 8(1) of the Central Sales Tax Act is available only on strict and complete compliance with the prescribed declaration requirements. Where Form C leaves the date of registration blank, the declaration is materially incomplete under rule 12 of the Central Sales Tax (Registration and Turnover) Rules, and the defect cannot be cured by later letters or evidence produced in reassessment or appellate proceedings. The statutory benefit depends on a valid declaration being furnished in the manner and at the time required by law, so incomplete C forms cannot support the concessional rate.

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Issues: Whether evidence filed in reassessment or appellate proceedings could be accepted to fill the omission in the C forms regarding the date of registration and thereby preserve the assessee's entitlement to the concessional rate of tax.

Analysis: The concessional rate under section 8(1) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 is available only when the statutory declaration is duly and completely furnished in the prescribed form in the manner required by the Act and the Rules. Form C, as prescribed under rule 12 of the Central Sales Tax (Registration and Turnover) Rules, 1957, requires the registration particulars, including the date from which registration is valid. Where that column is left blank, the declaration is incomplete in a material particular. The statutory scheme does not permit the defect to be cured by later letters or by a certificate produced after assessment, because the benefit is conditional upon strict compliance before the assessing authority acts on the declaration.

Conclusion: The omitted date of registration could not be supplied by evidence filed in reassessment or at the appellate stage, and the incomplete C forms were not entitled to be treated as valid for the concessional rate.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory concession dependent on prescribed declarations must be claimed by strict and complete compliance with the form and timing requirements, and a material defect in a C form cannot be cured by later evidence produced after assessment.

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