Strict compliance with transport-document requirements under sales tax law triggers penalty when goods move without prescribed papers.

Goods in movement into Rajasthan must be accompanied by the prescribed declaration and transport documents under Section 78(2)(a) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1994. Where the driver had no accompanying documents at interception or in response to notice, the requirement of strict compliance was violated and penalty under Section 78(5) was attracted. The assessee's contention that the goods were agricultural produce or formed part of an inter-State transaction did not displace the statutory obligation to carry the prescribed papers. Penalty was therefore held leviable for non-production of Form ST 18A and related documents.

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Issues: Whether non-production of the prescribed transport documents, including Form ST 18A, at the time of interception of goods in transit from Uttar Pradesh to Rajasthan constituted a violation of Section 78(2)(a) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1994, attracting penalty under Section 78(5) of that Act.

Analysis: The goods were being transported into Rajasthan, and the driver admittedly had no accompanying documents at the time of inspection or in response to the notice. The statutory scheme under Section 78(2)(a) required the goods in movement to be accompanied by the prescribed declaration and transport documents, and the legal position was controlled by the rule of strict compliance. The absence of documents was therefore a clear contravention of the statutory requirement, and the penalty provision under Section 78(5) was attracted regardless of the assessee's contention that the goods were agricultural produce or part of an inter-state transaction.

Conclusion: The non-production of the required documents amounted to violation of Section 78(2)(a), and penalty under Section 78(5) was rightly leviable; the challenge to the deletion of penalty failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Goods in movement into or out of the State must be accompanied by the prescribed declaration and transport documents, and failure to comply strictly with Section 78(2)(a) attracts penalty under Section 78(5) without regard to the assessee's claim that the transaction is otherwise non-taxable.

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