Form F is evidentiary, not mandatory, for proving branch transfer under Section 6-A when reliable alternative evidence supports the claim.

Section 6-A places the burden on the dealer to prove that goods moved otherwise than by sale, but Form F is only evidentiary and not a mandatory condition for establishing branch transfer. The dealer may discharge that burden through Form F or other reliable evidence, including books of account and connected materials showing dispatch from the branch factory to the head office for manufacture. On the facts stated, that evidence was accepted, the movement was treated as a branch transfer rather than an inter-State sale, and the assessment to Central Sales Tax and penalty were annulled with refund directed if amounts had been realised.

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Issues: Whether the assessee's movement of goods from Orissa to Calcutta was a branch transfer or an inter-State sale, and whether production of Form F under section 6-A was mandatory to prove branch transfer.

Analysis: Section 6-A places the burden of proving that the movement of goods was occasioned by transfer and not by sale on the dealer. The use of the words "may furnish" in relation to the declaration in Form F shows that the form is evidentiary and not mandatory. Branch transfer may therefore be established by Form F or by other reliable evidence. The books of account and connected materials accepted by the appellate authority showed that the consignments were sent from the branch factory to the head office for manufacture, and the statutory burden stood discharged without insisting on Form F.

Conclusion: The movement of goods was held to be a branch transfer, not an inter-State sale, and non-production of Form F did not defeat the claim.

Final Conclusion: The assessment to Central Sales Tax and the penalty were annulled, and the tax and penalty, if realised, were directed to be refunded.

Ratio Decidendi: Under section 6-A, Form F is directory and not a mandatory condition for proving branch transfer; the dealer may discharge the burden by other sufficient evidence.

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