(1) The Commissioner may, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, require any dealer or any other person to -

(a) produce before him such books of account, registers and documents;

(b) furnish such information relating to the stock of goods or purchases, sales or deliveries of goods or any other information relating to his business, as may be deemed necessary for the purposes of this Act;

(c) allow access to the electronic records, if maintained by the dealer.

(2) All books of account, registers and documents relating to the stock of goods, purchases, sales or deliveries of goods by any dealer and all goods and cash kept in any place of business or warehouse, if any, by him or at any other place for and on behalf of him shall at all reasonable times be open to inspection by the Commissioner, and the Commissioner may take or cause to be taken such copies or extracts of the said books of account, registers or documents and such inventory of the goods found along with samples of such goods, as may be necessary for the purposes of this Act.

(3) Where the Commissioner , upon information in his possession or otherwise, is of the opinion that -

(a) any person, to whom a notice under this Act was issued to produce or cause to be produced any books of account or other documents, has failed to produce or cause to be produced such books of account or other documents as required by or under such notice; or (b) any person, to whom a notice as aforesaid has been or may be issued, may not produce or cause to be produced any books of account or other documents considered to be useful for, or relevant to, any proceeding under this Act; or

(c) books of account, registers or documents of any dealer may be destroyed, mutilated, altered, falsified or secreted or any sales by that dealer have been or may be suppressed, or any goods have not been or may not be accounted for in the books of account, registers or other documents required to be maintained under this Act, with a view to evading or attempting to evade payment of tax due under this Act,

the Commissioner or any other person appointed under section 3 if so authorised by the Commissioner may -

(i) inspect or survey the place of business of a dealer or any other place where it is believed by the Commissioner or the person so authorised that business is being carried on or accounts and documents are being kept by such dealer;

(ii) direct such dealer to produce accounts, registers and documents relating to his business activities for examination;

(iii) inspect the goods in the possession of the dealer or in the possession of anybody else on behalf of such dealer, wherever such goods are placed;

(iv) make search of such places including the search of the person found there, where concealment of facts relating to the business is suspected;

(v) break open the door of any premises or break open any almirah, box, receptacle in which any goods, accounts, registers or documents of the dealer are expected to be concealed, where access to such premises, almirah, box or receptacle is denied;

(vi) record the statement of the dealer or his manager, agent or servant or take extracts from the record and put identification marks on accounts, registers or documents and on any door, almirah, box or receptacle.

Explanation. - The goods, accounts, registers or documents, which are found at any place of business or any other place, of a dealer shall be deemed to belong to the dealer, unless the contrary is proved by him.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (3), the Commissioner or any officer appointed under section 3 if so authorised by the Commissioner may, without prior notice, undertake inspection of the place of business of a dealer or any other place where it is believed that the business is being carried on or accounts are being kept by such dealer and take such other action as specified in that sub-section.

(5) Where any accounts, registers or documents are produced before an officer appointed under section 3 to assist the Commissioner in any proceeding under this Act, such officer may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, impound and retain them in custody for a period not exceeding six months, and shall give the dealer or any other person who has produced such accounts, registers or documents a receipt for the same.

(6) Where, at the time of inspection, the officer authorised by the Commissioner in this behalf has reason to suspect that the dealer is attempting to avoid or evade tax or is concealing his tax liability in any manner, he may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, seize such accounts, registers or documents of the dealer as he may consider necessary and shall give the dealer or any other person from whose custody such accounts, registers or documents are seized a receipt for the same, and may retain the same in his custody for examination, inquiry, prosecution or other legal action, for such period not exceeding six months.

(7) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (6), the accounts, registers or documents impounded under sub-section (5) or seized under sub-section (6) may be retained beyond a period of six months and upto a maximum period of two years from the date of impounding or seizure, as the case may be, by such officer, after having obtained permission in writing from the Commissioner :

Provided that where the books or documents impounded or seized form a part of the record of assessment, the limitation as provided under this sub-section shall not apply.

(8) The officer authorised by the Commissioner under sub-section (3) may seize any goods liable to tax which are found in the possession of a dealer or in the possession of any person on behalf of such dealer and which are not accounted for in his accounts, registers or documents maintained in the course of his business, and a list of goods so seized shall be prepared by such officer and a copy thereof shall be given to the dealer or any other person from whose custody such goods are seized.

(9) Where it is not feasible to seize any accounts, registers or documents under sub-section (6) or any goods under sub-section (8), the officer concerned may serve on the owner or the person, who is in immediate possession or control thereof, an order that he shall not remove, part with or otherwise deal with them except with the previous permission of such officer, and, after serving such order, may take such steps as may be deemed necessary under the circumstances.

(10) The officer referred to in sub-section (8) may, after giving the dealer an opportunity of being heard and after holding such further enquiry as he may consider necessary, impose on him for the possession of goods not accounted for, whether seized or not under sub-section (8), a penalty equal to five times of the tax leviable or twenty percent of the value of such goods, whichever is higher, and such officer may release the goods, if seized, on payment of the penalty imposed.

(11) The Commissioner shall have the power to confiscate any goods, whether or not they have been seized under this Act, of any dealer or person which are found in any office, shop, godown, vehicle, vessel or any other place of the dealer but not accounted for by him in his accounts, registers and other documents maintained in the course of business :

Provided that no such order for confiscation of goods shall be made without giving the dealer or person concerned an opportunity of being heard.

(12)(a) The officer referred to in sub-section (8) may require any person -

(i) who transports or holds in custody any goods of a dealer, to give any information in his possession in respect of such goods or to allow inspection thereof ; and

(ii) who maintains or has in his possession any accounts, registers or documents relating to the business of a dealer, to produce such accounts, registers or documents for inspection.

(b) If the officer authorised under sub-section (6) has reason to suspect that any transporter, bailee, or the owner or lessee of a warehouse to whom the goods are delivered for transportation is attempting to contravene the provisions of clause (a), or evade payment of any tax due from him under this Act, he may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, seize any accounts, registers or documents as referred to in subclause (ii) of the said clause, 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, on such seizure, he shall retain the same as long as may reasonably be necessary for examination thereof or for appropriate legal action.

(c) The powers conferred under clause (b) shall include the power to break open any almirah or box or receptacle in which any account, register or other documents of the transporter, bailee or the owner or lessee of a warehouse are believed to have been kept, or to break open the doors of any premises where any such account, register or documents of any goods referred to in the said clause are believed to have been kept.

(d) The powers under clause (c) shall not be exercisable by an officer below the rank of a Sales Tax officer appointed under this Act.

(e) The Commissioner shall have the power to seize any goods vehicle or seize and confiscate any goods of any transporter, bailee or owner or lessee of a warehouse, which are found in any office, shop, godown, vehicle or vessel or any other place while in 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 under this sub-section, the Commissioner shall give the affected person an opportunity of being heard and make an enquiry in the prescribed manner :

Provided further that where an affected person makes payment to the Commissioner the amount of tax at the appropriate rate payable in respect of such goods, to be assessed in the prescribed manner, with a penalty equivalent to twenty per centum of the value of the goods seized, the goods and the vehicle so seized shall be released.

(13) If a dealer fails to produce books of account and such other records and documents as may be required for the purpose of audit or fails to provide necessary cooperation to facilitate smooth conduct of audit or prevents, in any manner, the conduct of audit, the Commissioner may, after giving the dealer an opportunity of being heard, impose a penalty not exceeding rupees twenty five thousand on the dealer.