Timely tax deposit with authorised bank defeats penalty where later miscredit is caused by the bank, not the dealer.

Timely deposit of sales tax with an authorised collecting bank satisfies the statutory payment obligation, even if the bank later miscredits the amount to the wrong government account. Under the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, payment in a Government treasury, the RBI, or an authorised SBI branch was sufficient when accompanied by the receipt with the return. Rule 30(1) was treated as a procedural guide to the mode of payment, so a banking error not attributable to the dealer could not create penal liability. On that basis, penalty for delayed payment was held to be unjustified and the tax payment was treated as made in time.

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Issues: Whether penalty could be imposed for delayed credit of sales tax when the assessee had deposited the tax within time in an authorised State Bank of India treasury branch, but the bank miscredited the amount in the account of the Central Government and later corrected the entry.

Analysis: Section 25 of the Haryana General Sales Tax Act required the dealer to pay the tax due in a Government treasury, the Reserve Bank of India, or the State Bank of India, and to furnish the receipt with the return. The assessee had deposited the tax within time in the State Bank of India, Treasury Branch, Sector 17, Chandigarh, which was authorised to collect Haryana sales tax. The subsequent miscrediting by the bank was not attributable to the assessee. Rule 30(1) of the Haryana General Sales Tax Rules, 1975, was treated as a procedural guideline for the mode of payment, and any deviation in the banking process did not create penal liability where the statutory obligation had already been complied with by timely deposit.

Conclusion: Penalty for delayed payment was not justified against the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded because the tax was held to have been paid in time, and the penalty order was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a dealer timely deposits tax with an authorised collecting bank in compliance with the statutory payment requirement, a subsequent miscredit by the bank cannot be the basis for imposing penalty on the dealer.

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