Check post penalty cannot be imposed on a bona fide taxability dispute when complete documents are furnished.

Penalty at the check post under Section 51(7)(b) of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act could not be sustained where the assessee produced complete invoices and related documents, and the dispute was a bona fide jurisdictional question on whether the transaction was an inter-State sale or an intra-State works contract. In the absence of concealment, misdeclaration, or material indicating tax evasion, the statutory precondition for penalty was not met. The availability of an appellate remedy did not bar writ relief because the impugned action was said to be without authority in the circumstances and the issue required proper adjudication of taxability.

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Issues: Whether penalty under Section 51(7)(b) of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005 could be imposed at the Information Collection Centre when the goods were accompanied by complete documents and the dispute raised was a bona fide question of taxability, and whether the writ petition was maintainable despite the availability of an appellate remedy.

Analysis: The petitioner had produced the relevant invoices and other particulars at the check post and had raised a genuine legal objection that the transaction amounted to an inter-State sale and not a taxable intra-State works contract. On those admitted facts, the matter turned on jurisdictional competence rather than on a mere disputed factual assessment. The availability of an appeal did not bar writ jurisdiction where the impugned action was without authority in the circumstances and the proceedings under the check post provision were not meant to replace adjudication of a seriously contested question of taxability. In the absence of misdeclaration, concealment, or any material showing an attempt to evade tax, the precondition for penalty was not satisfied.

Conclusion: Penalty under Section 51(7)(b) could not be sustained, and the writ petition was maintainable on the ground of lack of jurisdiction.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the relevant documents are furnished and the assessee raises a bona fide, jurisdictional dispute on taxability without concealment or misdeclaration, penalty at the check post for tax evasion cannot be imposed and the existence of an alternative remedy does not bar writ relief.

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