Penalty for unaccounted goods fails where invoices and books show proper accounting, despite interception and suspicion.

Penalty under Section 13A(4) of the U.P. Trade Tax Act was held unsustainable because the goods were duly supported by invoices, bilties and regular books of account at the time of interception. The statutory precondition for penalty is omission of the goods from the account books, register and related documents under Section 13A(1), and no finding was recorded that the goods were unaccounted for. Interception, seizure or suspicion based on loose papers found with the driver could not by itself justify penalty, so the assessee succeeded.

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Issues: Whether penalty under Section 13A(4) of the U.P. Trade Tax Act could be sustained when the goods were duly accounted for in the regular books and accompanying documents were available at the time of interception.

Analysis: Section 13A(4) permits penalty only where the goods are omitted from the account books, register and other documents contemplated by Section 13A(1). The available invoices and bilties showed that the goods were covered by regular accounting documents, and no finding was recorded that the goods were not accounted for in the books of account. In the absence of the statutory precondition, penalty could not be imposed merely on the basis of interception, seizure, or suspicion arising from the loose paper found with the truck driver.

Conclusion: The penalty under Section 13A(4) was not sustainable and the assessee succeeded on the issue.

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