YOGESH TRADING COMPANY Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The entire issue revolves around the assessment years from 1998-99 to 2002-03. The genesis for the present revision petitions was, information collected by the Intelligence wing of the Department that the assessee has evaded tax payable within the State of Kerala while dealing with the commodity of rubber allegedly smuggled out of Kerala in various light vehicles through bye routes to the nearby place, Karikke in the State of Karnataka, across the road through bigger vehicles successfully evading the purchase tax payable within the State of Kerala. In response to the notices issued at Exts. P4 to P8 proposing to impose penalty under Section 45A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act (the Act for short), in respect of alleged evasion of tax payable within the State, for the above said period, several replies numbering to 14 came to be submitted by the assessee herein.

(2.) It is not in dispute that in the earlier round of litigation questioning the imposition of penalty under Section 45A of the Act, the matter came up before this Court in WP (C) No. 37470 of 2004 which came to be disposed of with a direction to the assessee to file a statutory revision under Section 45A(3) of KGST Act before the concerned authority. The same came to be questioned before the Division Bench in WA No. 2220 of 2006 which came to be disposed of by judgment dated 23/03/2007 quashing the penalty imposition with a direction to the Intelligence Officer for fresh consideration. Subsequent to such remand, fresh assessment came to be made once again after issuing show-cause notice and giving an opportunity to the assessee herein to explain or to produce evidence substantiating his contentions that he made all the purchases pertaining to Karikke branch from local growers within the State of Karnataka and there was no smuggling of rubber sheets from Kerala to Karnataka as alleged by the Department. By order dated 08/09/2009, the Intelligence Officer proceeded to levy penalty against the petitioner under Section 45A of the Act.

(3.) Aggrieved by the same, the assessee preferred appeals before the Deputy Commissioner of Appeals in the first round. The Deputy Commissioner dismissed the appeals preferred by the assessee, confirming the opinion of the Intelligence Officer. Against the said dismissal of the appeals, a batch of writ appeals came to be filed before the Kerala Agricultural Income Tax and Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal and the Tribunal, after hearing both the parties, dismissed the appeals by a detailed order and the said order of the Tribunal is impugned in this batch of revisions.