Form-III C (2) validity can relate back to the registered period where rigid rule-reading would defeat statutory purpose.

A declaration form issued in 2010 pursuant to a later registration order was treated as valid for purchases made between 26.12.2006 and 31.3.2007, because the form had to be read in harmony with the registration and the object of the taxing provision. Section 3-D fastens liability on the first purchaser only when a valid Form-III C (2) is not issued by the selling dealer, and Rule 12-B(4) could not be applied so rigidly as to defeat that statutory purpose. The assessee was therefore entitled to the benefit of the form, and the tax liability could not be sustained on the basis adopted by the authorities.

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Issues: Whether Form-III C (2) issued in 2010 pursuant to a later registration order could be treated as valid for purchases made during the period 26.12.2006 to 31.3.2007, and whether Rule 12-B(4) of the U.P. Trade Tax Rules, 1948 could be invoked to deny its benefit.

Analysis: Section 3-D of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 fastens liability on the first purchaser only when a valid Form-III C (2) is not issued by the selling dealer. Rule 12-B(4) of the U.P. Trade Tax Rules, 1948 deals with the validity of blank forms issued in a financial year, but it has to be read harmoniously with the purpose of the registration and the form. Where the selling dealer had no effective registration earlier and the form was subsequently issued pursuant to an order recognising the relevant period, the form cannot be confined only to the calendar year of its physical issue if that would defeat the statutory object. The form must relate back to the period for which the dealer was duly registered and for which the transactions were verified.

Conclusion: The form was held valid for the relevant earlier transactions, and the assessee was entitled to its benefit.

Final Conclusion: The revision succeeded in relation to the validity of Form-III C (2), and the tax liability could not be sustained on the footing adopted by the authorities below.

Ratio Decidendi: A declaration form issued after the relevant registration period may be treated as effective for the earlier period to which the registration and verified transactions relate, where a contrary view would defeat the object of the taxing provision and the form-validity rule must be read harmoniously with the substantive liability provision.

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