Concessional sales tax relief depends on prescribed declaration; seller is not liable for purchaser's later misuse of goods.

Concessional tax under section 3(3) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act applies when the goods are specified, the sale is to another dealer, and the prescribed declaration is produced. The selling dealer's obligation is satisfied by furnishing Form XVII, and it need not prove the purchaser's later use of the goods. Any false declaration or misuse of the goods attracts consequences for the purchaser, not the seller. The article applies this principle to state that the department cannot deny the concession to the selling dealer on the basis of the purchaser's subsequent conduct.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to concessional tax under section 3(3) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 on production of Form XVII, and whether the selling dealer could be denied the concession because the purchasing dealer allegedly misused the goods.

Analysis: The provision confers the concessional rate once the statutory requisites are satisfied, namely that the goods sold are specified goods, the sale is to another dealer, and the goods are covered by the prescribed declaration. The assessee's obligation is discharged by production of the declaration in the prescribed form, and the selling dealer is not required to prove the subsequent use made of the goods by the purchaser. If the declaration is false or the goods are misapplied, the statutory consequence falls on the purchaser, not on the seller. The earlier decision of the Court and the Supreme Court were applied to hold that the department cannot shift to the selling dealer the burden arising from the purchaser's conduct after the sale.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to the concessional rate, and the assessment treating Form XVII as invalid was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The assessment order was quashed and the writ petition was allowed, resulting in relief to the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A selling dealer who satisfies the statutory conditions and furnishes the prescribed declaration is entitled to concessional tax, and cannot be denied that benefit on the basis of the purchaser's subsequent misuse or false compliance.

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