Check-post jurisdiction is limited to transit compliance; sale character cannot be assessed or penalised at the barrier.

Section 28-A of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957 limits a check-post officer to verifying transit documents and compliance with movement requirements. It does not authorise the officer to assess the true character of the sale, decide whether the transaction is intra-State or inter-State, or levy penalty on that basis. Any such determination belongs to the competent assessing authority, not the check-post authority. A transaction carried with the prescribed documents may be examined for transit compliance, but not converted into an assessment proceeding. The penalty order and connected appellate orders were therefore set aside.

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Issues: Whether the check-post officer under section 28-A of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957 had jurisdiction to determine the true nature of the sale, treat the transaction as intra-State or inter-State, and levy penalty on that basis.

Analysis: Section 28-A is intended to prevent evasion of tax during transit of goods and empowers the check-post officer to verify whether the prescribed documents accompany the vehicle and whether there is contravention of the transit requirements. The provision does not confer power to undertake an assessment or to adjudicate the real character of the sale transaction. Once the required documents are carried, any discrepancy or inference as to the actual sale liability can at best be considered by the competent assessing authority and not by the check-post officer. The Tribunal and the lower authorities proceeded as though the matter were one of assessment and not one of transit compliance, which amounted to a misdirection in law.

Conclusion: The check-post officer had no jurisdiction to determine whether the sale was intra-State or inter-State and to impose penalty on that basis; the penalty and the orders of the appellate authorities were liable to be quashed.

Final Conclusion: The revision petition succeeded, and the impugned penalty order and the connected appellate orders were set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: The power under section 28-A of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957 is limited to inspection of transit documents and enforcement of compliance with transport requirements, and it does not authorise the check-post officer to perform an assessment or decide the tax character of the underlying sale transaction.

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