2004 (2) TMI 664 - HC - VAT and Sales Tax

Summary

Issues Involved:
- Whether an eligibility certificate granted under rule 28A of the Haryana General Sales Tax Rules, 1975 can be withdrawn due to the failure to submit a change of land use certificate (CLU) along with the application in form ST-70.

Analysis:

1. The judgment discusses the issue of withdrawing an eligibility certificate granted under rule 28A of the Haryana General Sales Tax Rules, 1975, based on the failure to submit a change of land use certificate (CLU) along with the application. Previous cases, namely R.K. Mittal Woollen Mills v. State of Haryana and Baldev Spinners Pvt. Ltd. v. State of Haryana, have established that the non-furnishing of the CLU is not a valid ground for withdrawing an already granted eligibility certificate.

2. The State argued that submitting the CLU along with form ST-70 was mandatory, and failure to do so rendered the application invalid, making the eligibility certificate void ab initio. The State relied on the judgment in Nice Spinners Pvt. Ltd. v. State of Haryana and provisions of the Punjab Scheduled Roads and Controlled Areas Restriction of Unregulated Development Act, 1973, stating that CLU must be obtained before establishing a new industry.

3. The Court rejected the State's contention, distinguishing the present case from Nice Spinners, where the denial of an eligibility certificate was at the initial stage. The Court emphasized that the issue at hand was the withdrawal of an already granted eligibility certificate under sub-rule (8) of rule 28A, not the initial application process. The alleged violation of the Punjab Scheduled Roads and Controlled Areas Restriction of Unregulated Development Act, 1973, was deemed irrelevant to the current petition.

4. Given the precedents set by previous judgments, the Court found that the present dispute aligned with the decisions in R.K. Mittal Woollen Mills and Baldev Spinners' cases. Consequently, the petition was allowed, and the impugned order dated April 21, 2003, was quashed. No costs were awarded in this case. The State had not taken any action against the petitioner for the alleged violations, and no action had been initiated against the Screening Committee members who granted the eligibility certificate without the CLU.

In conclusion, the Court upheld that the non-submission of a change of land use certificate does not provide a valid ground for withdrawing an eligibility certificate already granted under the Haryana General Sales Tax Rules, 1975.