The Southern Railways on Thursday said it would not allow Sales Tax officials to check parcels lying on railway platforms and parcel office premises.

In a statement here, it said the Railway Board and Chief Traffic Manager, Southern Railway, Chennai, has issued instructions regarding checking of parcels and the same has been conveyed to the Sales Tax authorities earlier.

The Divisional Commercial Manager has also written to the Director/Central Excise Intelligence requesting them to avoid attempts to seize the consignments lying on the platforms and Parcel office premises in which tax evasion is expected, the railways said in a press release here.

According to the Railways, the Parcels remain in Railway transit from the time of booking to time of delivery. Despite clear instructions issued to the authorities concerned,parcels in transit with Railways continue to be seized or even checked by sales tax authorties at various stations. To ensure that there is no tax evasions, provision has been made for the Sales Tax department to install a check post near the entry/exit gate for checking purposes, it said.

The Railways administration will extend maximum cooperation to the inspecting authorities from Central Excise/Sales Tax department in carrying out their duties as per the directive of Railway Board/Zonal Head Quarters, the release added.