9911796707
TMI Blog1962 (12) TMI 40X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d. The scrap silver and gold and the ornaments purchased by them were either resold in the same form or after removing alloy therefrom. According to the Punjab General Sales Tax Act of 1948, as it stood before the Amendment Act of 1958, only sales tax was payable on the articles actually sold by the petitioner-firm because gold and silver and ornaments etc. were not included in the list of tax-free goods contained in Schedule "B" of the Act. The petitioner filed quarterly returns and duly deposited sales tax due on the turnover of each quarter during the year 1958-59. The correctness of the amounts of sales tax deposited was, according to the petition, not disputed by the respondents. It may here be mentioned that the respondents before me ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n 15th December, 1961, to deposit the amount by 26th December, 1961. It is this order (annexure "D" to the petition) which has been described to be altogether illegal, unjust and based on misinterpretation. Similar proceedings started by the Assessing Authority have been described to be illegal because separate notices regarding the respective quarterly periods of 1958-59 were not issued and separate assessment orders regarding each quarter were not passed. It is also pleaded that the Assessing Authority had no jurisdiction to assess the petitioner for such quarterly returns of the year as were more than three years prior to the date of assessment. In the written statement so far as relevant for the purposes of the actual point canvassed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... still conducting the business in the same premises so he (Shanti Sarup) should apply for an amendment of the registration certificate. The dealer, however, did not care to apply for amendment. The Assessing Authority, therefore, in order to avoid any leakage of Government revenue chose to assess for the period 1st April, 1958 to 31st December, 1958. The books for this period were thoroughly scrutinized and the assessment was made on that basis. This case was heard along with a large number of other cases in which the question of limitation in regard to best judgment assessment arose, presumably because in this case also it was represented that it involved the same question. The learned counsel for the petitioner, without specifically adve ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... erring the payment any longer. This provision has been enacted by the Legislature because in a welfare State it is in the interest of the public that the tax found due must not be withheld from the State merely because the assessment order is appealed against. One of the reasons for this view is that a democratic welfare State gives back to the citizens in various forms quite as much as, if not more than, it demands from them. Besides, normally speaking, parties must be left to have recourse to the procedure prescribed in the Punjab General Sales Tax Act for redress of their grievances and they should not be encouraged to treat proceedings under Article 226 of the Constitution as substitutes for the proceedings which are provided by the t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
