Fair opportunity for statutory declaration forms required before finalising inter-State sales assessment

Where non-production of statutory declaration forms was said to be due to the authorities of other States not issuing them, the assessing authority was required to grant a fair opportunity to produce the Forms C and F or consider the available supporting material before finalising the assessment. The Court held that, in these circumstances, the assessment order was unsustainable, quashed it, and remitted the matter for fresh consideration in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the assessing authority was justified in passing the assessment order without granting further time or opportunity to produce the Forms C and F and the supporting documents in relation to the claimed inter-State transactions.

Analysis: The assessment arose in proceedings under section 9(2) of the Central Sales Tax Act read with section 25 of the Bihar Value Added Tax Act. The petitioner asserted that the prescribed forms could not be produced because the authorities of other States had not issued them, and the matter was not time-barred. In these circumstances, the authority ought to have either granted additional time to furnish the forms or examined the available documents to determine whether the transactions were covered by the Central Sales Tax Act before finalising the assessment.

Conclusion: The impugned assessment order was not sustainable, and the petitioner was entitled to an opportunity to produce the necessary forms and documents. The order was quashed and the matter remitted for fresh consideration in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: Where non-production of statutory declaration forms is attributable to circumstances beyond the assessee's control and the assessment is still open, the assessing authority must afford a fair opportunity to produce the forms or consider the available material before making the assessment.

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