Point of Law : Succession of business - valid registration is necessary for a dealer to claim concessional rate of tax on inter-Sate sale of goods- demand of the petitioner, therefore, for the authorities to issue C-Form without amending the registration, therefore cannot be accepted.

JUDGMENT :

Akil Kureshi, J.

Petitioner has prayed for a direction to the respondents for issuing C-Forms as required under Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (“CST Act” for short) in favour of the petitioner firm.

2. Brief facts are as under :

The petitioner is a proprietary concern and originally one Sri Kalyan Prasad Saha was the proprietor of the concerned. The proprietary concern was engaged in buying and selling goods within the State of Tripura and for which it was registered as a dealer under the Tripura Value Added Tax Act, 2004 (“T-VAT Act” for short) and CST Act. The proprietor Sri Kalyan Prasad Saha was expired on 13th March, 2014. According to the legal heirs of the deceased, he had left behind a will executed on 24th January, 2014 under which he had given his proprietary business by way of testamentary succession to his elder daughter Smt. Madhu Chanda Saha alias Misthu Saha after the death of his wife Smt. Mamata Saha. According to the petitioner, Mamata Saha the wife of the deceased is still alive. However, for convenience, the elder daughter of the deceased i.e Madhu Chanda Saha is continuing the same business and entered into detailed correspondence and has been granted permissions by the department in the name of the proprietary concern.

3. On 27th April 2016, on behalf of the proprietary concern an application was made to the State Value Added Tax authorities for issuance of C-Forms for the years 2015-16 in connection with the inter-State purchases made by the petitioner firm. This would invite tax at reduced rates. However, the respondents have not issued such C-Forms presumably on the ground that the petitioner firm is not a registered concern.

4. Appearing for the petitioner learned Advocate Mr. Rajib Saha submitted that the respondent authorities were well aware about the death of the original proprietor of the concern and that his wife and daughter had inherited the business. It was on this basis that necessary permits for inter-State purchase of goods were granted and assessments made which were also challenged before appellate authorities and appeals were entertained. It would, therefore, be too late in the day for the authorities now to contend that since the registration of the firm was not amended after the death of the proprietor, C-Forms cannot be issued.

5. On the other hand, learned counsel Mr. A Nandi appeared for the respondents as a special counsel and opposed the petition. Referring to an affidavit-in-reply dated 29th September 2018 filed by the respondents, he submitted that it was the duty of the petitioner to have the registration of the firm duly amended upon the sole proprietor dyeing. The petitioner failed to do so. Merely because at one stage certain C-Forms may have been issued would not give a vested right to the petitioner to claim such certificates for subsequent transactions. Even an unregistered dealer is liable to pay taxes.

6. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and having perused documents on record, we notice that Section 6 of the CST Act creates a liability on every dealer to pay tax as per the prescribed rates. Sub-section (1) of Section 6 provides that subject to the other provisions of the Act, every dealer shall, with effect from such date as the Central Government may notify, be liable to pay tax under the Act on all sales of goods other than electrical energy effected by him in course of inter-State trade or commerce. Section 7 of the Act pertains to registration of dealers. Under sub-section (1) of Section 7, every dealer liable to pay tax under the Act has to get himself registered within such time, as may be prescribed, by making an application for such purpose. Sub-section (1) of Section 8 of the Act provides that every dealer who in course of inter-State trade or commerce, sells to a registered dealer goods of the description referred to in sub-section (3), shall be liable to pay tax which shall be three per cent of his turnover or at the rate applicable under laws o