Gold record-keeping contraventions under the Gold Control Act attracted penalty; form defects did not excuse missing entries.

Failure to maintain the repair register and keep statutory gold-account records written up to date attracted liability under Rule 12 of the Gold (Control) Rules, 1968 read with Sections 55 and 74 of the Gold (Control) Act, 1968. The Supreme Court observations on amended G.S. 11 and G.S. 12 forms applied only to form defects and did not excuse complete non-maintenance of accounts or omission to enter articles in the repair register. Because the alleged defects in updating the registers were factual and unrebutted, the reference application disclosed no question of law and the penalty based on the established contravention remained undisturbed.

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Issues: Whether the reference application disclosed any question of law on the penalty imposed for contravention of the record-keeping provisions under the Gold (Control) Act, 1968, including the applicability of the Supreme Court's observations on the amended forms.

Analysis: The penalty had been imposed not only in relation to the goods found unaccounted for, but also for failure to make entries in the register of repairs and for not keeping the statutory registers written up to date. Rule 12 of the Gold Control (Forms, Fees and Miscellaneous Matters) Rules, 1968 required maintenance of the relevant repair register, and failure to make the required entries attracted Section 55 and, consequently, Section 74 of the Gold (Control) Act, 1968. The observations relied upon from the Supreme Court concerned defects in the forms and the difficulty of reflecting a complete account in the amended G.S. 11 and G.S. 12 registers; they did not excuse complete non-maintenance of accounts or omission to enter articles in the register of repairs. The allegation that the registers were not written up to date was also based on facts that had not been rebutted before the Collector.

Conclusion: The questions raised did not give rise to any question of law, and the penalty under Section 74 based on the established contravention was not disturbed.

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