BHARAT AND COMPANY Vs. TRADE TAX OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) This appeal has been preferred from an order passed by the High Court of Allahabad dismissing the appellants writ petition. The appellant had asked for a direction on the respondents to hand over possession of 400 bags of gambier which had been detained on 20th August, 1999 and subsequently seized.

(3.) The appellant carries on business in Mumbai. It sent the gambier to one M/s. Kamakhya Like (sic) Industries, Varanasi. A declaration form (Form 31) issued under the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 (referred to as the Act) had been sent by the purchaser to the appellant in connection with the sale of the gambier. The gambier was despatched by truck from Bombay. At the Uttar Pradesh check-post the goods were detained on 19-8-1989. Certain documents were produced. The documents were found to be discrepant. A show cause notice was issued by the then Trade Tax Officer-II (hereinafter referred to as TTO-II, Sahayta Kendra Trade Tax, Jhansi to the truck driver on 20th August, 1989. It was alleged in the show cause notice, inter alia, that the appellant dealt in chemical and solvent and that the existence of the selling dealer was doubtful. As far as the purchasing dealer was concerned, it was said that the Form-31 was issued to the firm to import lime stone and coal and it was not registered or authorized to trade in gambier. It was also said that the registration certificate had expired and that the signature of the present dealer on the documents produced did not tally with the signature of the proprietor already on record. It was also noted that there was a discrepancy in the name of the purchaser in the documents produced by the truck driver in that the name in one place was shown as Kamakhya Like Industries, and in another as Kamakhya Lime Industries. On the basis of these facts, the TTO-II said he was satisfied that the goods were being imported with the intention of evading payment of tax by adopting fraudulent means and that the goods in question were detained under Section 28-A of the U.P. Trade Tax Act.