STATE OF WEST BENGAL Vs. NARAYAN K PATODIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) The High Court of Calcutta has quashed the FIR registered in a Police Station mainly on the ground that the person who forwarded the complaint to the police had no authority to do so. The State of West Bengal has, therefore, filed this Appeal by Special Leave. The FIR was registered for certain offences under the Indian Penal Code and West Bengal Sales Tax Act 1994 (for short the 'Sales Tax Act'). The complaint which was made the basis for such an FIR contained the allegations that respondent submitted two applications on 21-1-1998 before the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Burdwan impersonating himself as one Mohan Agrawal (478 Katwa Road, Hari Narainpur, Burdwan) who is a fictitious person; respondent signed the applications in the false name of the said Agrawal and described him as a businessman dealing in spices under the trade name "Parbati Traders." The applications were made in the Pro forma (Form-A) prescribed under the West Bengal Sales Tax (Registration and Turn-over) Rules 1957, and they were appended with documents all of which were forged. On the basis of the said fabricated documents respondent obtained registration under the Sales Tax Act which entitled him to make purchases at concessional rate of sales tax, and also to receive permits for importing spices from outside the State. On the strength of the registration so obtained the respondent applied for the issue of five permits to import spices the sales tax of which would have been 2.73 lacs. In those applications again the respondent personated himself to be the aforesaid fictitious Mohan Agrawal.

(3.) When the Bureau of Investigation formed by the Government of West Bengal under the Sales Tax Act, got secret information about the fraud played by the respondent they conducted some discreet investigation and then it was revealed to them that the respondent had committed the said forgery and impersonation to defraud the government of huge sales tax amount. It was further revealed that respondent had wangled another registration on 1-12-1977 in the fictitious name of Surendra Luhariwala who purportedly did business as "Luhariwala Trading Company 33/1, N.S. Road Calcutta." By using the said registration respondent carried on business and defrauded the Government of sales tax to the tune of Rupees thirty-two lakhs.