Eligibility under trade tax exemption cannot be curtailed by later registration when the lease deed relates back to an earlier date.

Eligibility under section 4A of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 was discussed in the context of a unit initially occupying land under unregistered lease deeds, followed by a later registered lease deed made effective from an earlier date. The text states that entitlement should not be restricted to the date of formal registration where the deed related back, and that the earlier High Court order did not confine eligibility to a single date but left the merits open. It also notes that the Tribunal and committee erred in treating that observation as limiting relief, and that exclusion of the lease deeds as additional evidence under section 12D was unsustainable on the facts.

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Issues: Whether eligibility under section 4A of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 could be restricted to the date of execution of the registered lease deed when the lease was subsequently regularised and related back to an earlier date, and whether the refusal to consider the lease deeds as additional evidence justified denial of the full benefit.

Analysis: The unit had been set up earlier and the land was initially held under unregistered lease deeds, but a registered lease deed was later executed and made effective from an anterior date. The earlier High Court order had not confined entitlement only to November 5, 1988; it had only indicated that the registered lease deed at least supported eligibility from that date while leaving the merits open for reconsideration. The Divisional Level Committee and the Tribunal erred in treating that observation as a limitation on entitlement and in denying the benefit for the earlier period. Once the registered lease deed came on record and related back to the earlier date, the eligibility could not be curtailed merely because the formal registration occurred later. The Tribunal's reliance on section 12D to exclude the documents as additional evidence was also unsustainable in the facts.

Conclusion: The dealer was entitled to eligibility under section 4A of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 from the date of first sale, and the restriction of benefit to the date of the registered lease deed was ; the order of partial eligibility was unsustainable.

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