Contemporaneous records prevail over unsupported seizure assumptions where goods are not schedule goods and no permit is required.

Contemporaneous transport documents and price material identified the seized goods as oxidised vegetable oil 5.5, and the revenue produced no reliable evidence to show that they were ordinary vegetable oil. No sample was taken for expert testing, so the contrary assumption lacked evidentiary support. As oxidised vegetable oil is a chemical and not a commodity in Schedule IV to the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994, no sales tax permit was required for its import. On that basis, the seizure and consequential penalty were unsustainable and were set aside in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the seized goods were oxidised vegetable oil and not vegetable oil, and whether the seizure and consequential penalty were sustainable.

Analysis: The transportation documents described the goods as oxidised vegetable oil 5.5 and the contemporaneous price material supported that description. The revenue produced no material showing that the goods were ordinary vegetable oil, and no sample was taken for expert testing to verify their true identity. Since oxidised vegetable oil is a chemical and not a commodity specified in Schedule IV to the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994, no sales tax permit was required for its import. In the absence of evidentiary support for the contrary finding, the seizure and the penalty order could not stand.

Conclusion: The goods were held to be oxidised vegetable oil and not schedule goods. The seizure and the penalty were invalid and were set aside, in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where contemporaneous documents support the declared identity of the goods and the revenue produces no reliable evidence to displace that description, a seizure based on a contrary assumption is unsustainable, especially when the goods are not covered by the relevant schedule requiring a permit.

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