Mandatory tax declaration requirements defeat exemption claims where neither original nor duplicate statutory form is produced.

Production of the prescribed declaration form was a mandatory condition for claiming deduction from taxable turnover under the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act. Where the original S.T. 17 was lost, the statutory scheme permitted reliance on the duplicate, but strict compliance still required one of those forms to be produced before the assessing authority. Because neither the original nor the duplicate was filed, and a plain-paper copy, affidavit and purchasing dealer's certificate could not replace the statutory declaration, the exemption failed and the tax assessment was upheld.

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Issues: Whether deduction from taxable turnover under the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act could be allowed without producing the original or duplicate declaration form S.T. 17, and whether secondary evidence could be relied upon when both forms were stated to have been lost.

Analysis: The relevant statutory scheme required a dealer claiming exemption to obtain and file the declaration in form S.T. 17 with the return, and to produce the original declaration before the assessing authority. Where the original foil was lost, the rule permitted production of the duplicate. The Court held that this requirement was mandatory and that the assessee had to strictly comply with it. Since neither the original nor the duplicate declaration was produced, the claimed exemption could not be sustained. The Court further held that other secondary material, including a plain-paper copy, affidavit, and certificate of the purchasing dealer, could not substitute for the statutory declaration requirement.

Conclusion: The question was answered in favour of the Revenue. The deletion of tax on the turnover of cotton seeds was held to be unsustainable and the assessment restoring tax was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a taxing rule makes production of a prescribed declaration mandatory for claiming exemption, the assessee must comply strictly by producing the original or, if lost, the duplicate; secondary evidence cannot replace the statutory declaration.

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