Bona fide omission of transit form ST-18A did not justify penalty when supporting documents were available and form was produced on demand.

Penalty under section 78(5) of the Rajasthan Value Added Tax Act, 2003 was not leviable where the transit goods were supported by bills, vouchers and an authorisation letter, and form ST-18A was omitted only through bona fide inadvertence. The form was produced immediately on demand, and there was no material showing mala fide intent to evade tax or defraud revenue. Applying the cited Supreme Court principle that technical non-production of a document should not automatically attract penalty when the document is later produced and the transaction is otherwise genuine, the HC held the assessee was entitled to relief.

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Issues: Whether penalty under section 78(5) of the Rajasthan Value Added Tax Act, 2003 was leviable for non-production of form ST-18A at the time of checking when the other transit documents were available and the form was produced immediately on demand.

Analysis: The available documents showed that the goods were accompanied by the relevant bills, vouchers and authorisation letter, and the omission to carry form ST-18A at the spot was due to inadvertence in handing it over to the driver. The form was produced immediately on demand, and there was no material to show mala fide intent to evade tax or defraud revenue. The principle applied in the cited Supreme Court authority was that where the requisite document is not readily available by mistake but is produced on demand, the assessee should be given the benefit and penalty should not automatically follow. The Court also found the earlier decision relied upon by the Revenue to be distinguishable on facts.

Conclusion: Penalty was not leviable and the assessee succeeded on the issue.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statutory transit form is omitted due to bona fide inadvertence but is produced immediately on demand and the surrounding documents establish genuineness of the transaction, penalty for mere technical non-production is not warranted.

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