2014 (9) TMI 906 - HC - VAT and Sales Tax

Waiver of pre deposit - pre deposit ordered for extending benefit of interim stay - Held that - if the version as putforth by the petitioner in the writ petition and as contained in the certificate mentioned herein before comes to be true and also subject to production of the documents, there may not be any liability upon the petitioner . However, this Court does not intend to express anything with regard to the merits of the case, in view of the fact that the appeals are pending consideration before the appellate authority. This Court finds that this is a fit case where the merits of the appeals have to be considered and decided by the appellate authority, with liberty to the petitioner to produce the relevant documents. - Matter remanded back - Decided in favour of assessee.

Summary

Issues:
1. Failure to submit objections to assessment notices.
2. Granting conditional stay during appeal.
3. Error in uploading sale details by another dealer.
4. Pending appeals before the appellate authority.

Analysis:
1. The petitioner received pre-assessment notices for the years 2008-09 to 2010-11 but failed to submit objections to certain notices. Consequently, assessments were finalized without considering the objections submitted later. The petitioner challenged this in a writ petition, arguing that no reasons were provided for the conditional stay granted during the appeals process.

2. The Government Pleader contended that the objections submitted by the petitioner did not form part of the records, and no replies were provided for the relevant notices, leading to the finalization of assessments. The petitioner claimed that the assessments were finalized due to an error in uploading sale details by another dealer, which was later rectified by the concerned authority.

3. During the hearing, it was revealed that the error in uploading sale details was due to another dealer mistakenly using the petitioner's TIN instead of the correct dealer's TIN. The concerned dealer rectified the error and provided a certificate to the petitioner, acknowledging the mistake and undertaking to produce supporting documents. The court acknowledged the potential impact of this error on the liability of the petitioner but refrained from expressing any opinion on the merits of the case due to pending appeals.

4. The court directed the Assistant Commissioner (Appeals) to consider and pass final orders on the appeals filed by the petitioner within four months. Coercive proceedings were to be suspended, and the interim stay granted during the appeals process was modified. The petitioner was instructed to submit a copy of the judgment and the writ petition to the Assistant Commissioner (Appeals) for further action. Ultimately, the writ petition was disposed of, emphasizing the need for a thorough consideration of the appeals and the production of relevant documents.