UPKAR GOODS TRANSPORT CO Vs. STATE OF J&K

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is a Company registered under the Companies Act, 1956. It carries on the business as goods -carrier. The case of the petitioner is that on 20 -11 -1995 vehicle No. JKR -3481 with the consignment of goods booked from Delhi to Srinagar was stopped at Lakhanpur Check Post for verification of the documents of the goods loaded in it. Since the assessing authority found that part of the consignment was being carried without proper documents, the goods were impounded alongwith the vehicle. This action of the respondent -assessing authority according to the petitioner is illegal because every part of the consignment was supported by documents produced by the driver but these were not accepted.

(2.) THE grievance of the petitioner is that although all the documents were produced by the driver on demand but the respondent refused to accept their genuineness and illegally seized the vehicle along with the goods under section 15 -A(3) of General Sales Tax Act, 1962 (for short Sales Tax Act) on the plea that documents were not genuine. After the seizure of the vehicle, the respondents it is admitted case of the parties, initiated action under Section 15 -A of the Sales Tax Act in an attempt to impose penalty.

(3.) THE show -cause notices issued under different provisions have been challenged on the ground that no offence was made out against the petitioner as the document furnished by the driver were genuine and the objections about its genuineness without any basis. Another ground of challenge is that on the admitted facts of the case, no offence under section 15 -A(2) was made out and therefore the seizure of the goods was without jurisdiction.