Unreliable transport documents can sustain tax-evasion penalty where contemporaneous evidence supports the inference of evasion.

Penalty under the Punjab Value Added Tax Act for transporting goods with a computerized invoice was sustained where the contemporaneous documents were found unreliable and the later-produced papers did not cure the defect. The Court treated the driver's statement, the manager's corroboration, and the absence of a genuine supporting invoice at the relevant time as sufficient material to support an inference of attempted tax evasion. On that basis, the penalty under Section 51(7)(b) was upheld and the challenge failed; no substantial question of law arose.

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Issues: Whether the penalty imposed under Section 51(7)(b) of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005 for transporting goods on the basis of a computerized invoice and other belatedly produced documents was justified.

Analysis: The detention was made on the basis of the driver's statement and was supported by the statement of the manager of the premises from which the goods were said to have been loaded. The computerized invoice produced at the time of detention was not accepted as genuine, and the appellant did not produce the correct supporting invoice immediately when the goods were released on bank guarantee. The later production of documents after a delay did not displace the inference that the transaction was not supported by proper and genuine documents at the relevant time. The material on record supported the finding that the goods were being transported in a manner giving rise to an attempt to evade tax.

Conclusion: The penalty under Section 51(7)(b) of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005 was rightly imposed and the challenge to the assessment of penalty failed.

Final Conclusion: The appeal raised no substantial question of law and the order of the Tribunal was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Penalty for tax evasion under the Punjab Value Added Tax Act can be upheld where the contemporaneous documents are found unreliable and the surrounding material supports an inference of attempt to evade tax.

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