68. Transit of goods by road through the State and issue of transit pass:-
(1) Where a vehicle is carrying taxable goods,-
(a) from any place outside the State to any place outside the State and passes through the State; or
(b) imported into the State from any place outside the country and such goods are being carried to any place outside the State.
the driver or any other person-in-charge of such vehicle shall furnish the prescribed information and obtain a transit pass in the prescribed form, in duplicate, from the officer in charge of the first check-post or barrier after its entry into the State or after movement of such goods has commenced from the State, as the case may be, or from the officer to whom powers have been delegated under sub-section (1) of section 77 upon interception of the goods vehicle after its entry into the State or after movement of such goods has commenced, as the case may be.
(2) The driver or the person in charge of the vehicle shall deliver within the stipulated time a copy of the transit pass obtained under sub-section (1) to the officer-in-charge at the last check-post or barrier before its exit from the State.
(3) (a) If for any reason, the goods carried in a vehicle are not moved out of the State within the time stipulate in the transit pass, the owner, driver or person-in-charge of the goods vehicle shall furnish to the officer empowered in this behalf the reasons for such delay and other particulars, if any, thereof and such officer shall after due enquiry, where necessary, extend the time of exit by suitably amending the transit pass.
(b) Where the goods carried by a vehicle, after their entry into the State or after commencement of movement, as the case may be, are claimed to be transported outside the State by any other vehicle or by any other means, the onus of proving that the goods actually moved out of the State shall be on the driver, person-in-charge or owner of the vehicle who originally brought the goods into the State.
(4) If the driver or any other person-in-charge of the vehicle does not comply with the requirements of sub-section (2), then it shall be presumed, unless proved otherwise, that the said goods have been sold within the State by the owner of the vehicle and the owner shall be assessed to tax as if he is a dealer liable to pay tax by an officer empowered in this behalf by the Commissioner and all the provisions of this Act shall apply accordingly.
(5) If the owner of the vehicle having obtained the transit pass as provided under sub-section (1) fails to deliver the same as provided in sub-section (2), he shall be liable to pay by way of penalty a sum equal to twice the amount of tax leviable on the goods transported.
(6) In a case where a vehicle owned by a person is hired for transport of goods by some other person, the hirer of the vehicle shall, for the purposes of this section, be also deemed to be the owner of the vehicle. |