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TMI Blog1990 (3) TMI 310X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be disposed of together as they involve a common point. Notices of these petitions have been duly sent but there is no appearance on behalf of the respondents. After hearing the counsel for the petitioner, we grant leave and also proceed to dispose of the appeals. The respondents in each of these cases was subjected to assessment under the U. P. Sales Tax Act, 1948. The assessment years are different for the three cases being assessment years 1981-82, 1983-84 and 1982-83 respectively but this does not make any material difference. In each of the cases, the assessee preferred an appeal to the first appellate authority and, along with the appeal, moved an application praying for the waiver of any deposit of tax which was necessary before the appeal could be entertained. But the first appellate authority, in two of the cases, dismissed the application. In the third, he directed the assessee to deposit 10 per cent of the disputed tax within ten days from the date of the order. Dissatisfied with the orders of the first appellate authority, each of the assessees preferred an appeal to the Tribunal. The Tribunal, in all the three cases, directed the assessee to pay 10 per cent of the a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , may within thirty days from the date of service of the copy of order, appeal to such authority as may be prescribed: Provided that no appeal against an assessment order under this Act shall be entertained unless the appellant has furnished satisfactory proof of the payment of not less than- (a) when return is filed,-the amount of tax or fee due under this Act on the turnover of sales or purchases, as the case may be, admitted by the appellant in the return filed by him or at a later stage in proceeding before the assessing authority, whichever is greater; (b) where no return is filed,-the amount of tax or fee due under this Act on the turnover of sales or purchases, as the case may be, admitted at any stage in proceedings before the assessing authority, or 20 per cent of the amount of tax or fee assessed whichever is greater: Provided further that the appellate authority may, for special and adequate reasons to be recorded in writing, waive or relax the requirements of clause (b) of the preceding proviso." This provision, it will be observed, effected two important changes: (a) The assessee had to deposit the highest amount of tax due on his admitted turnover. H ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rder made by the assessing authority, other than an order mentioned in section 10-A, may, within thirty days from the date of service of the copy of the order, appeal to such authority as may be prescribed: Provided that where the disputed amount of tax, fee or penalty does not exceed one thousand rupees, the appellant may, at his option, request the appellate authority in writing for summary disposal of his appeal, whereupon the appellate authority may decide the appeal accordingly. (1-A) The manner and procedure of summary disposal of appeal shall be such as may be prescribed. (1-B) No appeal against an assessment order under this Act shall be entertained unless the appellant has furnished satisfactory proof of the payment of not less than- (a) the amount of tax or fee due under this Act on the turnover of sales or purchases, as the case may be, admitted by the appellant in the returns filed by him or at any stage in any proceedings under this Act, whichever is greater, where all the returns for the assessment year have been filed, or (b) the amount of tax or fee due under this Act on the turnover of sales or purchases, as the case may be, admitted by the appellant in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ison of (i) the admitted tax and (ii) 20 per cent of the assessed tax. Which ever of these two figures is higher has to be deposited by the assessee before his appeal against the assessment can be entertained. There are perhaps two ways of reading clause (b). One is that, in a case where no return at all has been filed and no admission had at all has been made by the assessee of any figure of turnover, then the first figure to be computed under clause (b) will be zero. If, however, there is an assessment made on the assessee of any tax higher than nil, that will be the greater of the two figures to be computed under the clause and the assessee will have to deposit 20 per cent of the assessed tax. The other way of interpreting the sub-section, which appears to have commended itself to the High Court, is to say that clause (b) will be attracted only if two figures are available for comparison: (1) a figure of turnover admitted in a return or in subsequent proceedings, and (2) a figure of assessed tax. If the assessee has filed no return at all and if he has made no admission regarding his turnover at any stage of the proceedings, then figure (1) above cannot be computed. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... case. But, at the same time, it cannot be said, merely because an assessee has not filed any return or made any admission expressly, that he necessarily disputes the entirety of the assessed tax. It could well be that he has not done either of these things just to postpone the payment of even the tax which he may not be in a position to contest. Realising this situation, the provision in question makes two relaxations. It does not make it obligatory on the assessee to deposit the entire amount of assessed tax. It restricts the deposit to 20 per cent of the assessed tax (a figure which can be treated as an ad hoc statutory quantification, on an average, of the tax demand in such cases on which there could be no quarrel). Added to this, it empowers the appellate authority to waive or relax the requirements of clause (b). This is because the appellate authority will be in a position to, prima facie, Judge the extent to which, in the circumstances of a particular case, there is a real dispute in the appeal and to insist upon the deposit of such percentage of the assessed tax (not exceeding 20 per cent) as it may consider appropriate. If the intention of the legislature were only tha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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