Penalty for wilful omission from accounts cannot rest on check-post interception or missing import documents under sales tax law.

Penalty under section 13-A(4) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, 1948 applies only where goods are wilfully omitted from accounts, registers or other records required to be maintained in the course of business after receipt at the place of business. Goods intercepted at a check-post before entry in the purchaser's books had not yet reached the stage at which such omission could occur, so the absence of bill, challan or other import documents did not satisfy section 13-A(4). Those documents are issued by the selling dealer, and any contravention relating to import without prescribed documents falls under section 15-A(1)(o) with the relevant rules, not under section 13-A(4).

---

---

Issues: Whether penalty under section 13-A(4) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, 1948 could be imposed for alleged suppression of goods when the goods were seized at a check-post before they could be entered in the account books, and whether the absence of bill, challan and other import documents justified penalty under that provision.

Analysis: Section 13-A(4) authorises penalty only where the authority is satisfied that goods were wilfully omitted from being shown in the accounts, registers or other documents required to be maintained in the course of business. The goods in question were intercepted at the check-post, so the occasion to enter them in the books at the destination had not arisen. Bill and challan are documents issued by the selling dealer, not the purchasing dealer, and the purchaser could not be penalised under section 13-A(4) for their absence. The proper provision for importing goods without the prescribed documents was section 15-A(1)(o), read with section 28-A(2)(a) and Rule 83(4) of the U.P. Sales Tax Rules, 1948. The finding that there was an intention not to make entries in the books was insufficient to satisfy the statutory requirement of wilful omission from accounts after receipt of the goods at the destination.

Conclusion: Penalty under section 13-A(4) was not sustainable on the facts and could not be imposed for the alleged omission attributed to the petitioner.

Ratio Decidendi: Penalty for wilful omission from accounts can be levied only when the goods have reached the place of business and are then not entered in the books or other required documents; mere interception at a check-post or absence of import documents does not attract section 13-A(4).

---