Penalty for missing check-post stamp unsustainable where transport documents were complete and no tax evasion was shown.

Penalty under section 78(10A) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1994 is not sustainable where the vehicle carries the requisite transport documents and there is no material showing intent to evade tax. The only defect was that the papers did not bear a check-post stamp, and the documents were otherwise complete and not forged. The controlling principle is that a technical breach alone does not justify penal action unless the ingredients of the penalty provision are established. On that basis, the penalty was held unsustainable and the challenge to the appellate order failed.

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Issues: Whether penalty under section 78(10A) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1994 was sustainable when the vehicle was carrying requisite documents but the documents did not bear a check-post stamp.

Analysis: The documents produced by the driver were neither found incomplete nor forged. The only objection was absence of a check-post stamp. The controlling legal position was that where requisite papers accompany the goods and no material is shown to establish an intention to evade tax, a penalty under section 78(10A) cannot be sustained merely on a technical breach. The court relied on the earlier decision holding that penalty is not justified in the absence of ingredients of the penal provision and that imposition without proper basis and fair opportunity would be unsustainable.

Conclusion: The penalty was not sustainable, and the petition challenging the appellate order failed.

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