ST-14 declaration compliance protects purchasing dealers from denial of exemption when the first seller fails to pay tax.

A subsequent purchaser of vegetable ghee could claim deduction or exemption under the Haryana General Sales Tax Act by furnishing the prescribed ST-14 declaration, because section 18 required compliance with the statutory certificate form and did not impose a further duty to verify whether the first seller had actually paid tax. Once the prescribed declaration was furnished, the purchasing dealer satisfied the statutory condition. Any false declaration or non-payment by the first seller remained the responsibility of the selling dealer, not the compliant purchaser. The benefit under section 18 could not be refused merely because the first seller failed to remit the tax.

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Issues: Whether a purchasing dealer selling vegetable ghee at the subsequent stage was entitled to claim deduction or exemption under section 18 of the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 on furnishing the prescribed ST-14 declaration, and whether the non-payment of tax by the first seller could be fastened on the purchasing dealer.

Analysis: Section 18 required the subsequent seller to furnish, in the prescribed form and manner, a certificate signed by the registered seller from whom the goods were purchased, to the effect that tax on the goods had been paid at the first stage. Once that statutory certificate was furnished, no further obligation rested on the subsequent seller to verify actual payment by the first seller. The liability for any false declaration or non-payment remained with the selling dealer, and not with the purchasing dealer who had complied with the prescribed conditions. The reasoning was supported by the view that the purpose of the prescribed form would be defeated if the buyer were required to investigate whether the first seller had in fact remitted the tax.

Conclusion: The furnishing of ST-14 constituted sufficient compliance with section 18, and the subsequent purchaser could not be denied the benefit merely because the first seller had not deposited the tax.

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