Holding

A Sales Tax Officer (Vigilance) duly delegated under Section 17 and the 1997/1998 notifications may assess (compute) and recover tax on the spot under Section 16‑D, and such assessment is valid notwithstanding the officer’s administrative control by the police vigilance hierarchy.

Summary

The respondent, a wholesale biscuit dealer, was stopped while unloading goods when a vigilance officer detected irregularities and the Sales Tax Officer (Vigilance) levied tax of Rs.32,592 and a penalty of Rs.54,320 under Section 16‑D of the Orissa Sales Tax Act. The dealer challenged the officer's authority, arguing that the officer, being under the Inspector General of Police (Vigilance), could not assess or recover tax. The High Court agreed and set aside the assessment. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined the delegation power under Section 17 and the notifications of 14 May 1997 and 12 Oct 1998, which expressly delegated the Commissioner’s powers under Section 16‑D to Sales Tax Officers. The Court held that the officer was duly empowered to compute (i.e., assess) tax on the spot and recover it, and that this assessment is distinct from the regular assessment under Section 12. Consequently, the High Court’s judgment was set aside and the civil appeal was allowed.

Issues considered

Whether a Sales Tax Officer (Vigilance), who functions under the Inspector General of Police (Vigilance), is competent to assess and recover tax under Section 16‑D of the Orissa Sales Tax Act.
Whether the term 'assess' in Section 16‑D denotes a computation of tax that is a valid assessment distinct from the assessment under Section 12.

Legislation cited

Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947s. 11, s. 12, s. 16-A, s. 16-D, s. 17, s. 2(C), s. 3(1), s. 3(3), s. 3-A(i), s. 4, s. 5

Subjects

Sales TaxSection 16-DAssessmentVigilance OfficerDelegation of PowersOrissa Sales Tax ActTax Recovery

Judgment

A SALES TAX OFFICERS AND ORS.
V.
MIS. DUTTA TRADERS

SEPTEMBER 18, 2007
B
[S.H. KAPADIA AND B. SUDERSHAN REDDY, JJ.]

Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1957:
.-./
l

s. 16-D-Power ofSales Tax Officer (Vigilance) to recover Sales
c Tax and impose penalty-Irregularities detected by Investigating
Officer of Vigilance Wing during unloading the biscuits from a
vehicle-Sales Tax Officer (Vigilance) raised tax and imposed
penalty-Held, in view of the delegation of powers by the
Commissioner, by Notification dated 14.5.1997 to the Sales Tax
D Officers area-wise, the Sales Tax Officer appointed to search and seize
has been given power uls l 6D also to recover the amount on the spot.
ss. 16-D and 12-Assessment and recovery of tax-Held: word
' assess' in s.16-D has different connotation-It talks about
E computation-Under s. 16-D where assessee offers to pay tax on spot
for release of his goods Sales Tax Officer is required to calculate/
compute the tax, on payment whereof he allows the goods to be
released-This computation is also assessment-In this context Sales
Tax Officer (Vigilence) is empowered to 'assess' and raise tax- y

F However this assessment has nothing to do with regular assessment --\-
uls 12-0ffice ofCommissioner ofCommercial Tax Orissa Notification
No. 110008/C.T dated 14.5.1997.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 7540 of
2001.
G
From the Judgment and Order dated 04.09.2000ofthe High Court
of Orissa, Cuttack in O.J.C. No. 7135 of2000.
Rakesh Dwivedi, Kirti Renu Mishra for the Appellants.

H 114
~- SALES TAX OFFICERS v. MIS. DUTTA TRADERS 115

AK. Sanghi and Rono Mohanty for the Respondents. A
j
The following Order of the Court was delivered :
ORDER
1. Respondent is a wholesale dealer in biscuits of different brands
B
under the provisions of the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947 and Central Sales
Tax Act, 1956. On 14th October, 1999, goods were being unloaded from
vehicle No.WB-24-A-0112 when the Investigating Officer of Vigilance
Wing, Balasore Division, found certain irregularity and, accordingly, the
·,..,.._
Sales Tax Officer (Vigilance), raised a sum of Rs. 32,592/- as tax and
Rs. 54,320/- as penalty under Section 16-D of the Orissa Sales Tax Act, c
1947 (for short, the Act).
2. The main contention of the respondent is that the Sales Tax Officer
(Vigilance) is not competent to make assessment under Section 16-D of
the Act inasmuch as he is an officer under the control of Inspector General D
of Police (Vigilance) and has no power to make assessment.
3. Under notification dated 14th May, 1997, the Commissioner
delegated his powers and duties under Section 16-D of the Act to the
Sales Tax Officers and Inspectors of Sales Tax Department. The said
notification was issued under Section 3(3) of the Act. The notifications E
issued indicate officers by designation who have been conferred with the
powers of the Commission.
4. By a cryptic order, the High Court opined that since the Sales
y Tax Officer (Vigilance) had been functioning under the Inspector General
,> . F
of Police (Vigilance), he was not competent to realize the amount and,
therefore, the realization of the aforestated amounts as tax and penalty
was without jurisdiction and, accordingly, the order of the Additional
Commissioner dated 1st January, 2000 stood quashed. Against the said
judgment, the Department has come to this Court by way of Civil Appeal.
G
5. Two questions arise for consideration in this Civil Appeal. Firstly,
-y
whether the High Court was right in holding that the Sales Tax Officer
(Vigilance) was not entitled to realize the aforestated amounts as he has
been functioning under the Inspector General of Police (Vigilance). The
second question is whether the Sales Tax Officer (Vigilance) was entitled H
116 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 10 S.C.R.

A to assess and recover/realize the sum of Rs.32,592/- as tax from the
assessee.
6. On the first question, we quote hereinbelow Section 17 of the
Act.
B 17. Delegation of Commissioner's Functions.
Subject to such conditions and restrictions as the State
Government may, be general or special order, impose, the
Commissioner may, by order mwriting, delegate any of his powers
and duties under this Act or the rule made thereunder, to any
c person appointed under Section 3 to assist him.
On reading Section 17 of the Act, it is clear that the Commissioner is
empowered, by an order in writing, to delegate any of his powers and
duties under the Act to any person appointed under Section 3 to assist
D him.
7. For the sake of clarity, we quote hereinbelow Section 3(1) of
the Act.
3. Trucing authority-
E
(1) The State Government may appoint any person to be the
Commissioner of Sales Tax, Orissa and he shall exercise such
powers and discharge such functions as are or may be conferred
or imposed by or under the provisions of this Act.
F bn reading Section 3(1 ), it is clear that the State Government may appoint
any person to be the Commissioner of Sales Tax and he shall exercise
such powers and discharge such functions as may be conferred or imposed
on him under the provisions of the Act.
G 8. In the pres_entcase, on 14th May, 1997, following notification
was issu~ by Commissioner of Sales Tax under which he has delegated
his powers and duties, inter alia, under Section 16-D of the Act, to Sales
Tax Officers and to the Inspectors of Sales Tax appointed under Section
3(3) of the Act.
H
SALESTAXOFFICERSv. MIS.DUTTA TRADERS 117

"OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF COMMERCIAL A
j- TAXES: ORISSA CUTTACK:
NO.V(VI)45/97. 110008/C.T.; Dated: 14.5.97
NOTIFICATION
B
In exercise of the powers conferred. by Section 17 of the
O.S.T.Act, 1947 (Orissa Act 17of1947) I, S.K. Samantaray,
I.AS., Commissioner of Sales Tax, Orissa do hereby delegate my
'r powers and duties under new Section 16-AA and Section 16-D
of the said Act to the Sales Tax Officers and to the Inspectors of
Sales Tax appointed under sub-section (3) of Section 3 of the
c
O.S.T. Act and direct that the said powers and duties shall be
exercised and discharged by the Sales Tax Officers and by the
Inspectors of Sales Tax in the State of Orissa within their respective
jurisdictions.
D
Sd/-
. ..i-
AK. Samantaray
Commissioner of Sales Tax,
Orissa, Cuttack"
Following the notification dated 14th May, 1997, one more notification E
has also been issued on 12th October, 1998 which indicates that the
powers under Section 16-D of the Act have been delegated to officers,
area-wise. The said notification gives an entire list of officers who are
given powers, designation-wise and area-wise.
r
9. Every department is entitled to have its own vigilance officers. In F
)'

the present case, we find that the Sales Tax Officer appointed to search
and seize is from the Sales Tax Department and he is a Sales Tax Officer
(Vigilance) who has been given the power under Section 16-D of the
Act not only to search and seize the documents but also to re~over the
amount on the spot. Therefore, on the first point, the High Court had en-ed G
,.,,, in stating that the Sales Tax Officer (Vigilance) was not entitled to assess
and recover the tax as he functioned under the Inspector General of
Police.
10. Coming to the second question, formulated above, we find, on H
118 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 10 S.C.R.

A examination of the scheme of the Act, that the word 'dealer' has been
specifically defined under Section 2(C) of the Act to mean any person ~
who carries on business of purchasing, selling, supplying or distributing
goods directly or otherwise and includes a commission agent, a broker,
a mercantile agent, a person who transfers property in goods, a person
B who delivers goods of hire purchase etc. Section 3(1) ofl:he Act has been
quoted above. Section 3-A refers to the powers and functions of the
Commissioner. He is given the power under Section 3-A(i) to superintend
and control all persons employed in the executive administration of Sales
Tax. Section 4 deals with incidence of taxation. Section 5 deals with rate -<
I

c of tax. Section 11 refers to filing of returns by the dealer as may be required
by the Commissioner by notice served in the prescribed manner. Section
12 deals with assessment of tax. It says, inter alia, that if the
Commissioner is satisfied that the returns furnished in respect of any period
are correct and complete, he shall assess the amount of tax due from the
D dealer on the basis of such returns. Section 12(2)(a) states that ifthe
Commissioner is not satisfied with the production of evidence and returns
filed by the dealer, then, in accordance with the procedure prescribed
.1...
under Section 12, the Commissioner shall, after hearing the dealer, a5sess
him on the basis of the turnover. Under Section 12(4), the Commissioner
is also empowered to make best judgment assessment. Therefore, in our
E
view, Section 12 refers to assessment to be made by the Commissioner.
Under Section 16-A of the Act, the State Government may, in order to
prevent or check evasion of tax, by notification, direct creation of a barrier
and it may empower the Commissioner in this behalf to stop the vehicle
and to take such steps in the matter of recovery of tax which the 1
F -<
Commissioner believes to have been evaded.
11. Section 16-D of the Act deals with production and inspection
of documents and accounts in certain cases. We quote hereinbelow
Section 16-D in its entirety:
G
16-D Production and inspection of accounts and documents in
certain cases.
Without prejudice to the provisions contained in Sections 16-
A and 16-B, where a transporter or a bailee or the owner or lessee
H of a warehouse to whom goods are delivered for transmission
t-
SALES TAX OFFICERS v. MIS. DUTTA TRADERS 119

keeps such goods, before delivery thereof is taken from him, in A
f any office, shop, warehouse, godown, vessel, boat, receptacle,
vehicle or any other place, the Commissioner shall have the power
to enter into and search such office, shop, godown, vessel,
receptacle, vehicle or other place, as the case may be, and to
examine the goods and inspect all records relating thereto and, in B
every such case, the transporter, bailee, owner or lessee of the
ware house or the person-in-charge of such goods and records
shall give all facilities for such examination and inspection and shall
').-
produce the bills of sale or such other documents as may be
required relating to the goods and give his name and address and c
the name and address of the transporter, bailee, owner or lessee
of the warehouse or the person-in-charge of such goods and
records, as the case may be.
Explanation I - For the purposes of this Section -
D
(i) "transporter" means the owner or any person having possession' .
J. or control of a good vehicle, who transports on account of any
other person for hire or on his own account, any good from one
place to another, and includes any person whose name is entered
in the permit issued under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 as the E
holder thereof, the driver or any other person-in-charge of such
vehicle;
(ii) "bailee" means the person to whom goods are delivered;
t - (iii) "lessee" means the person to whom the lease of goods is F
granted by the lesser; and
(iv) "goods vehicle" means a goods carriage as defined in the
Motor Vehicle Act, 1988.
Explanation II- For the purpose of this section, where goods are G
.., delivered to a transporter, bailee or the owner or lessee of a
warehouse for transmission, the movement of the goods shall be
deemed to commence at the time of such delivery and terminate
at the time of such delivery and terminate at the time when delivery
is taken fro.in the transporter, bailee or the owner or lessee of the H
~-
I
l'.20 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 10 S.C.R.

A warehouse, as the case may be.
-Y
(2) If the Commissioner has reason to suspect that any transporter,
bailee or the owner or lessee of a warehouse is attempting to
contravene the provisions of sub-section (1) or to evade payment
of any tax due from him under this Act, he may, for reasons to be
B recorded in writing, seize such accounts, registers or documents
of the transporter, bailee or, as the case may be, the owner or
lessee of the warehouse, as may be necessary, granting a receipt
for the same and shall retain the same as long as may reasonably i
be necessary for examination thereof or for a prosecution.
c
(3) The power conferred under sub-section (2), shall include the
power to break open any box, almirah or other receptacle in which
any account, register or other·documents of the transporter, bailee
or the owner or lessee of a warehouse or to break open the doors
D of any premises where any such account, register or documents
of any goods may be kept.
_,l_
(4) The powers exercisable under sub-section (3) shall not be
delegated to any officer below the rank of a Sales Tax Officer
appointed under this Act or the rules made thereunder.
E
(5) The Commissioner shall have the power to seize any goods
vehicle or seize and confiscate any goods of any transporter, bailee
or the owner or lessee of a warehouse, which are found in any
office, shop, godown, vehicle or vessel or any other place while .,.
F on transit but not accounted for by the transporter, bailee or the --<:
owner or lessee of the warehouse, as the case may be, in his
accounts, registers and other documents maintained in respect of
such goods.
Provided that before taking action for the confiscation of goods
G under this sub-section, the Commissioner shall give the person
affected an opportunity of being heard and make an enquiry in the .-1-
prescribed manner.
Provided further that where the person affected makes payment
to the Commissioner the amount of tax at the appropriate rate
H
SALESTAXOFFICERSv. MIS.DUTTA TRADERS 121

.,, {
payable in respect of such goods to be assessed in the prescribed A
manner with a penalty equivalent to twenty per centum of the value
of the goods seized, the goods and the vehicle seized as aforesaid
shall be released."
12. It is well settled that the concepts of chargeability, assessment,
B
quantification and recovery of tax are independent concepts under any
taxing law. Section 12 of the Act refers to assessment whereas provisions
after Section 15 of the said Act refers to recovery and collection of tax.
)-- The scheme of the Act, therefore, is based on the dichotomy between
assessment on one hand and recovery of tax on the other hand. U11der
Section 12, the assessing officer has tQ examine the returns. He may accept c
the returns. If he finds that the returns are not in order, subject to giving
notice to the assessee, he is entitled to pass appropriate assessment orders.
However, in cases falling under Section 16-D where evasion is detected
at the check-post by the Sales Tax Officer (Vigilance) and in order to
get the goods released, which goods have been seized by the said officer, D
J.
the person(s) named in the section offers to pay the tax, then, in such a
case, the Sales Tax Officer is expressly given the authority to compute
the tax and call upon such person(s) to make the payment. On such
payment of tax together with penalty, the Sales Tax Officer (Vigilance) is
required to release the goods which have been seized: Hence it is the E
case of computation of tax of and incidental to the recovery of tax on the
spot.

r 13. The main argument advanced on behalf of the respondent is that
t· the Sales Tax Officer (Vigilance) has no power to assess the tax. It is F
contended that the power to assess tax exists only in Section 12 of the
Act. It is contended that the Sales Tax Officer (Vigilance) who carries
out search and who seizes the goods under Section 16-D has no power
to assess the tax and, in the circumstances, the said officer can only carry
out the search, seize the truck and goods and refer the matter to. the
G
assessing officer who is, thereafter, required to carry out the assessment
-t
proceedings against the defaulter. We find no merit in this argument. The
word 'assess' in Section 16-D has different connotation. In our view, the
word 'assess' in Section 16-D talks about computation. Computation is
also assessment. Section 16-D is a Code by itself It operates in a different
H
122 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 10 S.C.R.

A sphere. Under Section 12 of the Act, the assessing officer analyzes the
-Y
returns which are filed by the dealer whereas in cases falling under Section
16-D where the assessee offers to pay the tax on the spot for release of
his goods/vehicle, the Sales Tax Officer (Vigilance) is required to calculate/
compute the tax and, on payment of tax, he allows the goods/truck to be
B released. In our view, this computation undertaken by the Sales Tax
Officer (Vigilance) on the spot is also an assessment. However, that
assessment (computation) of the tax has nothing to do with the regular
assessment under Section 12 of the Act.
14. For the afore-stated reasons, we set aside the impugned
C judgment of the High Court. We express no opinion on the merits of the
matter particularly, with regard to quantification of the amount of tax and
penalty. Respondent herein would be entitled to adopt appropriate
proceedings with regard to quantification of penalty and tax before the
appropriate authority in accordance with law.
D
15. The Civil Appeal is, accordingly, allowed with no order as to
costs.
RP. Appeal allowed.