Consignment transfer proof under Section 6A required full enquiry into Form F declarations and supporting documents; remand ordered.

Under Section 6A of the Central Sales Tax Act, the dealer must prove that goods moved by reason of consignment transfer rather than sale, typically through Form F declarations and supporting despatch evidence, and the assessing authority must examine the truth of those declarations and record a finding. The Tribunal had not meaningfully considered the Form F declarations, sale pattials, consignment agreements and agent assessment orders relied upon, and the record did not show a lawful enquiry into the declarations. The order was set aside and the matter remanded to the assessing authority for fresh consideration of all documents and proper enquiry under Section 6A.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal was justified in sustaining the assessment and penalty without properly considering the documents relied upon to support the claim of consignment transfer and whether the matter required remand for fresh enquiry under Section 6A of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956.

Analysis: Under Section 6A(1), the burden lies on the dealer to prove that the movement of goods was occasioned by transfer and not by sale, and the dealer may discharge that burden by filing Form F declarations along with evidence of despatch. Under Section 6A(2), the assessing authority must enquire into the truth of the particulars in the declaration and record a finding one way or the other. The record showed that the appellate authority had referred to several documents such as Form F declarations, sale pattials, consignment agreements and assessment orders of agents in other States, but the Tribunal did not meaningfully examine those materials and proceeded on the footing that no relevant documents had been produced. The order also did not show any proper enquiry by the assessing authority into the truth of the Form F declarations. The existence of circumstances suggestive of inter-State sales could not, by itself, displace the claim without consideration of the entire material and the attendant circumstances.

Conclusion: The Tribunal's order was set aside and the matter was remanded to the assessing authority for fresh consideration of all documents and a lawful enquiry into the Form F declarations. The appeal succeeded to that extent.

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