Mandatory prescribed form for input tax credit upheld; furnishing stock details in another format was not valid compliance.

Furnishing inventory particulars in the prescribed Form-A was mandatory for claiming input tax credit under the U.P. VAT Rules, 2008. The Court held that supplying the same information in another format, including electronically or in a voluminous form, did not amount to valid compliance because the rule required adherence to the prescribed form. As the assessee failed to file the particulars in Form-A, denial of input tax credit was upheld and the revision was rejected.

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Issues: Whether furnishing the particulars for claiming input tax credit in the prescribed Form-A under the U.P. VAT Rules, 2008 was mandatory, and whether substantial compliance by supplying the information in another format entitled the assessee to the credit.

Analysis: The revision challenged the denial of input tax credit on the ground that the required stock details were not filed in Form-A. The governing rule provided that every dealer shall furnish inventories in the form prescribed by the Commissioner. The Court treated the wording as mandatory, holding that the assessee was bound to comply with the prescribed format. The fact that the information was voluminous or supplied electronically did not excuse non-compliance, and the rejection of the claim for want of prescribed form was upheld.

Conclusion: The requirement of filing the information in the prescribed form was mandatory, and the assessee was not entitled to input tax credit on the basis of information furnished in any other format.

Final Conclusion: The revision was rejected because the denial of input tax credit for failure to comply with the prescribed procedural requirement was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the rule governing input tax credit requires inventories or particulars to be furnished in the prescribed form, filing the information in another format does not amount to valid compliance and the benefit can be denied for non-adherence to the mandatory requirement.

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