Bank certificate and challan evidence must be read together; penalty for alleged ledger shortfall was set aside.

Penalty for clearing goods without sufficient balance in the personal ledger account was held unsustainable where a bank certificate showed that the draft had been deposited on the relevant date and the discrepancy in the challan date was attributable to a bank clerical error. The documentary evidence had to be read as a whole, and the appellate authority should not have rejected the certificate merely because the challan bore a later date. On that footing, the penalty was not justified and was set aside.

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Issues: Whether penalty imposed for clearance of goods without sufficient balance in the personal ledger account was sustainable when the bank certificate showed that the bank draft had been deposited on the relevant date and the discrepancy in the challan date arose from a mistake of the bank.

Analysis: The bank certificate was treated as supporting evidence that the draft had been deposited on the proper date and that the later date on the challan resulted from a clerical error by the bank. The lower appellate authority ought to have read the certificate along with the TR-6 challan and appreciated the documentary evidence as a whole instead of rejecting the certificate on the premise that the challan would override it.

Conclusion: The penalty was not justified and was set aside.

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