Stock transfer penalty relief follows where pre-30/03/2000 dispatches were otherwise documented and no tax evasion was shown.

Penalty was held unwarranted where goods were found to have moved by stock transfer from the factory to the sales depot and the bills, vouchers and other documents were otherwise in order. For dispatches made before 30/03/2000, the relevant notification had dispensed with the need to carry an ST-18-A declaration in stock transfer, branch transfer, depot transfer and SOS transfer cases. In that setting, mere incompleteness of the declaration form did not establish tax evasion or justify penalty. Penalty under Section 78(5) was therefore not exigible and the revision was dismissed.

---

---

Issues: Whether penalty could be imposed for carrying an incomplete ST-18-A declaration form in respect of stock transfer of goods dispatched prior to 30/03/2000.

Analysis: The authorities below found as a fact that the movement of goods was a stock transfer from the factory to the sales depot and that the supporting bills, vouchers and other documents were in order. The Court further noted that, for dispatches made before 30/03/2000, the relevant notification dispensed with the requirement of carrying ST-18-A in stock transfer, branch transfer, depot transfer and SOS transfer cases. In that situation, the mere incompleteness of the declaration form did not justify imposition of penalty, and no question of tax evasion survived on the facts found.

Conclusion: Penalty under Section 78(5) was not exigible and the revision was liable to be dismissed.

---