1971 (2) TMI 91

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.... for assessment under the M.P. General Sales Tax Act for periods from 1st January, 1963, to 31st December, 1963, and 1st January, 1964, to 3rd November, 1966. The petitioner contested his liability as a dealer. Ultimately, his plea was rejected by the Sales Tax Officer and in his appeal against the first period it was held that he was liable to be registered as a dealer. This appeal was decided by order dated 29th August, 1966, which was served on the petitioner on 8th September, 1966. On this date, according to the petitioner, the matter having been finally decided, he applied for registration on 1st November, 1966, and was soon registered as a dealer. However, the petitioner was assessed to sales tax and the Sales Tax Officer after assess....

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....ithout reasonable cause so that if there is a reasonable cause for a dealer for not getting himself registered within time, penalty cannot be imposed against him. There the maximum penalty is Rs. 100. But under section 18(6) the penalty is one and a half times the tax which has been avoided and the penalty can be imposed if an opinion is formed that the dealer has wilfully failed to apply for registration. This necessarily means that the finding must be about the intentional avoidance of registration by the dealer in order to avoid payment of tax, and it is for that reason that the penalty here is proportionate to the tax tried to be avoided. In the present case, the penalty has been imposed under section 18(6) of the Act. Therefore, this p....