Detention of notified timber upheld where permit compliance was in question and no tax-evasion intent was required.

Detention of notified timber at a check-post was within the authority of the sales tax law because permits were required for transport from notified places and verification of compliance with permit conditions was permitted under section 14A of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941. Intention to evade tax was not required for such detention. On measurement, no codified or universally accepted trade standard for excluding alleged defects in sawn timber was established, and the applicant did not follow the ISI method relied on. The authorities recorded an excess over the permits on both measurement methods used during the inquiry, so the disputed quantity had to be regularised by obtaining a permit, failing which action could proceed according to law.

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Issues: Whether the detention of notified timber at the check-post was valid under the sales tax law, and whether the disputed quantity could be treated as excess for want of a permit.

Analysis: Timber was a notified goods and permits were required for its transport from notified places. The detention was made for verification whether the goods were being transported in contravention of the permit conditions and was therefore within the jurisdiction conferred by section 14A of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941. Mens rea or an intention to evade tax was not a necessary prerequisite for such detention. On the question of measurement, no codified or universally accepted trade standard for identifying and excluding alleged defects in sawn timber was shown. The applicant did not even follow the ISI method on which reliance was placed, while the authorities found a measurable excess over the permits on both measurement methods adopted during the inquiry.

Conclusion: The detention was held to be valid, and the applicant was required to regularise the disputed quantity by obtaining a permit for the excess timber, failing which the authorities could proceed in accordance with law.

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