Bogus Form F declarations defeat consignment transfer claims, and concurrent factual findings cannot be reopened without a substantial legal question.
Consignment transfer claims supported by Form F declarations fail where inquiry shows the forms are bogus or not issued by the competent sales tax authority. The court treated the issue as turning on concurrent factual findings that the declarations were not genuine, so the assessee could not claim relief on that basis. In the absence of a substantial question of law, the High Court would not reappraise those findings in appeal.
Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to claim consignment transfers on the basis of Form F declarations when the prescribed forms were found to be bogus and not issued by the competent sales tax authorities, and whether any substantial question of law arose from the concurrent findings of fact.
Analysis: The appeal arose under Section 78 of the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2003 and concerned the evidentiary effect of declarations furnished under Section 6A of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. The authorities found, on inquiry, that the prescribed Form F declarations were not issued by the competent authorities and were fake or bogus. Once the declaration forms were found not to be genuine, the consignment claim could not be accepted. The concurrent findings were purely factual, and the High Court could not reassess those findings in appeal in the absence of any substantial question of law.
Conclusion: The assessee was not entitled to relief on the consignment claim, and the dismissal of the appeal was justified.
Final Conclusion: The judgment affirms that a consignment claim based on forged or bogus declaration forms fails on facts, and such concurrent factual findings do not give rise to a substantial question of law.
Ratio Decidendi: Where declaration forms required to support a consignment transfer are found, on inquiry, to be bogus or not issued by the competent authority, the claim fails and concurrent factual findings cannot be reopened in appeal absent a substantial question of law.
TaxTMI 
AI Drafter ✕
TaxTMI 
