Technical breach of transit requirements cannot sustain penalty where compliance failed beyond the assessee's control and no tax evasion arose.

Penalty under the West Bengal Value Added Tax Act was held unsustainable where a consignment left the State without endorsement of the transit declaration because no competent officer was available at the airport check-post. The infringement was treated as a technical breach beyond the assessee's control, the goods were actually delivered outside West Bengal, and there was no scope or intention for tax evasion. On those facts, the authorities' orders imposing penalty could not stand.

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Issues: Whether penalty under the West Bengal Value Added Tax Act, 2003 could be sustained when the consignment left the State without endorsement of the transit declaration at the airport check-post because no competent officer was available, and there was no possibility of tax evasion.

Analysis: The record showed that the consignment reached the airport at night, that no competent person was present at the check-post to endorse the way-bill or transit declaration, and that the goods were in fact delivered at the destination outside West Bengal. The violation was therefore occasioned by circumstances beyond the assessee's control. The absence of mala fide intention was also accepted. In such a situation, where the revenue authorities themselves were responsible for the technical non-compliance and there was no scope for evasion of tax, penalty was not justified.

Conclusion: The penalty could not be imposed and the orders of the Assistant Commissioner and the Additional Commissioner were unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Penalty for breach of a fiscal transit requirement is not warranted where the infringement is purely technical, caused by circumstances beyond the assessee's control, and no possibility of tax evasion exists.

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