Mandatory VAT declaration form compliance attracted penalty where Form VAT-47 was incomplete and improperly punched.

Penalty under the Rajasthan Value Added Tax Act was upheld because goods in movement were accompanied by Form VAT-47 that was incomplete and not punched in the prescribed particulars. The court treated compliance with the declaration-form requirement as mandatory under section 76 and Rule 53, holding that blank columns and improper punching constituted a statutory breach, not a mere technical lapse. It further held that the presence of other accompanying documents did not cure the defect in the prescribed form, and that mens rea was irrelevant once the contravention was established. The revision petition was dismissed and the penalty sustained.

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Issues: Whether penalty under section 76(6) of the Rajasthan Value Added Tax Act, 2003 was justified where the declaration form VAT-47 accompanying the goods in movement was incomplete and not punched in the prescribed particulars.

Analysis: Section 76 of the Act and Rule 53 of the Rules require goods in movement to be accompanied by prescribed documents and by Form VAT-47 completely filled in all respects, with the value, date and month of use punched at the specified place. The form found during interception had blank columns in the relevant parts and was not punched in the prescribed manner. The statutory requirement was held to be mandatory, and the omission was not treated as a mere technical lapse. Following the governing principle that contravention of the declaration-form requirement attracts strict civil liability, the existence of other documents did not cure the defect in the prescribed form. Mens rea was held to be irrelevant for imposing penalty once the statutory breach was established.

Conclusion: The penalty was rightly imposed and sustained; the assessee's challenge failed.

Final Conclusion: The revision petition was dismissed because the incomplete and unpunched declaration form amounted to a statutory contravention warranting penalty.

Ratio Decidendi: Goods in movement must be accompanied by a declaration form that is completely and properly filled in as prescribed, and breach of that mandatory requirement attracts penalty as a strict civil liability without proof of mens rea.

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