Penalty for non-production of declaration form at check-post held unsustainable where form was obtained before crossing.

Penalty under section 15A of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 was held unsustainable because the declaration form required under section 28A had already been obtained before the goods crossed the check-post and was produced immediately when the omission was pointed out. The lapse was treated as a failure to produce the form at the check-post at the relevant time, not as import of goods in contravention of section 28A. On that basis, the penalty orders could not stand.

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Issues: Whether penalty under section 15A of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 was sustainable when the declaration form required under section 28A had been obtained before the goods crossed the check-post but was not produced at the check-post at that moment.

Analysis: The statutory scheme required the importer to obtain the prescribed declaration form and furnish it in the manner prescribed in relation to transport of goods into the State. On the facts found, the form had been obtained before the truck crossed the check-post and was produced immediately when the omission was pointed out. The lapse was therefore only a failure to produce the form at the check-post at the relevant time and did not establish that the goods were imported in contravention of section 28A so as to justify the penalty provision.

Conclusion: The penalty was not warranted and the orders imposing it could not stand.

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