1968 (12) TMI 85

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..... The dealer made purchases of goods specified in the certificate of registration and also goods not so specified on payment of concessional rate of tax after furnishing 'C' Forms to the selling dealer. The Sales Tax Officer held that the dealer by making purchases of goods not specified in the certificate of registration on furnishing 'C' Forms deprived the Governrnent of its rightful revenue and committed the offence defined in section 10(b) of the Act. Instead of prosecuting the dealer for the offence, the Sales Tax Officer imposed upon it a penalty of Rs. 2,500 as permissible under section 10-A of the Act. In appeal filed by the dealer to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, the penalty was reduced to a sum of Rs. 1,500. The dealer the....

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....dealer to whom the goods are sold containing the prescribed particulars in the prescribed form. The form relevant to this purpose is Form 'C' which is prescribed by rule 12 of the Central Sales Tax Rules, 1957. According to this form, the purchasing dealer certifies that the goods purchased are for resale, or use in manufacture etc., and are covered by registration certificate of the purchasing dealer. Section 10 of the Act provides for offences and clause (b) of it, with which we are concerned, reads "S. 10. If any person- * * * * (b) being a registered dealer, falsely represents when purchasing any class of goods that goods of such class are covered by his certificate of registration; or * * * * he shall be punishable with sim....

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.....R. 593 (P.C.)., the words "false entry" in section 116 of the Customs Ordinance (Fiji) were construed by the Privy Council as meaning an incorrect or untrue entry including even an entry which was innocently made false. In contrast to these cases, there are others where the word "false" has been used to cover only intentional falsehoods. As stated in Black's Law Dictionary (page 722): "In law, this word usually means something more than untrue; it means something designedly untrue and deceitful, and implies an intention to perpetrate some treachery or fraud: Hatcher v. Dunn102 Iowa 411; 71 N.W. 343; 36 L.R.A. 689.; Mason v. Association18 U.C.C.P. 19.; State v. Leonard73 Or. 451; 144 P. 113, 118. and State v. Smith63 Vt. 201; 22 A. 604. ....

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....they be intentional or innocent but in narrower sense it will cover only such falsehoods which are intentional. The question whether in a particular enactment the word "false" is used in a restricted sense or in a wider sense would depend on the context in which it is used. Clause (b) of section 10 of the Central Sales Tax Act, with which we are concerned, uses the words "falsely represents" as an ingredient of a criminal offence, for which a penalty of imprisonment which may extend to six months is prescribed. We begin with a presumption that a guilty intent is an essential element of a statutory offence and this presumption is strengthened when the offence is made punishable with a sentence of imprisonment. This presumption can be rebutte....