Mandatory declaration forms and penalty under sales tax law cannot apply to goods bought for hotel use.

Declaration forms ST 18-A were required only for notified goods imported for sale, manufacture or processing for sale, mining, power generation or distribution, or packing for sale under rule 62-A(3) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Rules, 1955. Goods purchased for use in the hotel itself did not fall within those purposes, so the forms were not legally required for that transaction. Because section 16(1)(k) could apply only where a statutorily required declaration was made and then the goods were not used for the declared purpose, penalty could not be imposed on this purchase. The penalty notice and order were set aside.

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Issues: (i) Whether declaration forms ST 18-A were required to be furnished for purchase of goods for use in the hotel itself under rule 62-A(3) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Rules, 1955. (ii) Whether penalty under section 16(1)(k) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954 could be imposed when the declaration forms were not required to be furnished for the stated purchase.

Issue (i): Whether declaration forms ST 18-A were required to be furnished for purchase of goods for use in the hotel itself under rule 62-A(3) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Rules, 1955.

Analysis: Rule 62-A(3) required declaration in form ST 18-A only where a registered dealer imported notified goods for sale, manufacture or processing of goods for sale, mining, generation or distribution of electricity or other forms of power, or packing of goods for sale. The goods in question were purchased for use in the hotel itself and not for any of the declared purposes. The prescribed declaration also related to goods imported for the purposes mentioned in the rule. On that basis, the form was not legally required for such hotel use.

Conclusion: Declaration forms ST 18-A were not required for the purchase of goods for use in the hotel itself.

Issue (ii): Whether penalty under section 16(1)(k) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954 could be imposed when the declaration forms were not required to be furnished for the stated purchase.

Analysis: Section 16(1)(k) applies where a person, after purchasing goods in respect of which a declaration has been made under the Act or the rules, fails without reasonable cause to use the goods for the declared purpose. Since the dealer was not required to furnish form ST 18-A for the hotel purchase, the furnishing of the form did not create the statutory basis for penalty. In the absence of a legally required declaration, the provision could not be invoked to levy penalty.

Conclusion: Penalty under section 16(1)(k) could not be imposed.

Final Conclusion: The penalty notice and the penalty order were set aside, and the writ petition succeeded only to that extent.

Ratio Decidendi: Penalty for failure to use goods for the declared purpose can be imposed only where the declaration was one required by the statute or rules for that transaction.

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