Pre-import permit requirement for inter-State goods movement struck down as unauthorized and trade-restrictive.

A pre-import declaration form requiring registered dealers to obtain a permit in advance for road import of goods from outside Assam was held unauthorized. The Court found that, although the Act and Rules already provided mechanisms to curb tax evasion through movement restrictions, check posts, prescribed declarations and information requests, those safeguards did not authorise a further permit regime or additional particulars beyond the prescribed forms. Because the impugned direction directly impeded the free flow of trade and lacked support in the rule-making framework, it was ultra vires the powers of the Superintendent of Taxes and the Commissioner and was quashed.

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Issues: Whether the Superintendent of Taxes and the Commissioner could require registered dealers to obtain a permit in advance by filing the impugned declaration form for importing goods from outside Assam by road, and whether that requirement was a valid restriction saved by the Constitution.

Analysis: The Act and the Rules already contained statutory mechanisms for preventing evasion of tax, including restriction on movement, check posts, declarations in prescribed forms, and power to call for information. The impugned form introduced an additional pre-import permit requirement and sought particulars not contemplated by the existing prescribed forms. Although fiscal measures may include ancillary provisions to curb evasion, such measures must remain within the powers conferred by the Act and must not directly impede the free flow of trade, commerce and intercourse. The Court distinguished permissible regulatory safeguards from an unauthorized obstruction of movement and found that the impugned direction and specimen form were neither part of the prescribed forms nor supported by the existing rule-making framework.

Conclusion: The impugned direction and specimen form were held to be ultra vires the powers of the Superintendent of Taxes and the Commissioner and were quashed.

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