Bona fide Form-C issuance defeated Section 10-A penalty where no false representation or knowing misstatement was shown.

Penalty under Section 10-A of the Central Sales Tax Act was held unsustainable where the dealer issued Form-C under a bona fide belief that the goods purchased from outside the State were covered by the registration certificate. The Tribunal's factual finding that the goods fell within, or were understood to fall within, the registration terms, and that no false representation was made, was accepted. As no material showed a knowing misstatement or deliberate issuance of Form-C for uncovered goods, the revisional court found no error in deleting the penalty and left that deletion undisturbed.

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Issues: Whether penalty under Section 10-A of the Central Sales Tax Act was liable to be deleted on the ground that the dealer issued Form-C under a bona fide belief that the goods purchased from outside the State were covered by the registration certificate.

Analysis: The Tribunal recorded a finding of fact that the goods in question, namely particle board, hard board and hardner, were covered by the expressions used in the registration certificate, or were understood by the dealer to be so covered, and that Form-C had been issued under a bona fide belief without any false representation. The revisional court found no error in that appreciation of facts and noted that no material was produced to show that the dealer knowingly issued Form-C for goods not covered by registration or made any false representation, which is necessary to attract penalty for the alleged default under Section 10(b) of the Central Sales Tax Act.

Conclusion: The deletion of penalty was not interfered with, and the revision was rejected against the dealer.

Final Conclusion: Penalty under Section 10-A was not sustained in revision, as the finding of bona fide issuance of Form-C and absence of false representation was left undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: Penalty under Section 10-A of the Central Sales Tax Act cannot be sustained unless the issuance of Form-C is shown to involve a false representation or knowing misstatement that the goods were covered by the registration certificate.

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