Technical breach in import declaration forms did not justify penalty absent evidence of deliberate tax evasion.

Penalty under section 15-A(1)(o) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, 1948 was held unsustainable where import was accompanied by an obsolete declaration form but the breach was only technical. Section 28-A is aimed at preventing tax evasion on import of goods, and penalty depends on material showing an attempt to evade assessment or payment of tax. The declaration form had been valid when issued, later became obsolete, and a fresh form was obtained shortly after the check-post seizure. No dishonest intention or contumacious conduct was found, and a quasi-criminal penalty cannot rest on a mere venial lapse without conscious wrongdoing. The revision therefore succeeded in favour of the assessee.

---

---

Issues: Whether penalty under section 15-A(1)(o) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, 1948 was sustainable where the import was accompanied by an obsolete declaration form and the breach was only technical.

Analysis: Penalty under section 15-A(1)(o) is attracted only when there is a contravention of section 28-A in circumstances showing more than a mere formal lapse. Section 28-A is designed to prevent evasion of tax on import of goods, and the power to penalise depends on satisfaction that the goods were imported in a manner indicating an attempt to evade assessment or payment of tax. The record showed that the declaration form had been valid when issued, was rendered obsolete later, and a fresh form was obtained shortly after the check-post seizure. The assessing authority itself found no dishonest intention or contumacious conduct, and the Tribunal's contrary inference of deliberate contravention was unsupported by evidence. A penalty proceeding of this kind is quasi-criminal, and a technical or venial breach without conscious wrongdoing does not justify penalty.

Conclusion: The penalty was not sustainable and was rightly set aside; the revision succeeded in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A penalty for breach of import declaration requirements is not justified where the default is merely technical and the materials do not show deliberate evasion, dishonest conduct, or conscious disregard of the statutory obligation.

---