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TMI Blog1966 (2) TMI 71X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a sum of Rs. 5,208. The assessments were ex parte and though the appellant preferred an appeal before the Appellate Commissioner, it was dismissed without going into the merits of the case. A revision was filed and even there the appellant was unsuccessful. Later he filed a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution; but the High Court without going into the merits of the case, dismissed the writ petition mainly on the ground that the plaintiffappellant had an alternative remedy by way of a regular suit. Later on, application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court was dismissed and a special leave petition filed before the Supreme Court also met with the same fate. It was finally rejected on 3rd October, 1955. The appellant was ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pellant, being a dealer in agricultural implements prepared out of scrap iron, is exempted from payment of sales tax and the imposition of the sales tax by the officer was arbitrary. The second ground is that the suit was within time having been filed within six months from the date of the last order, i.e., the order of the Supreme Court rejecting the petition to special leave, i.e., 3rd October, 1955. So far as the question of limitation is concerned, under section 24 of the Hyderabad General Sales Tax Act, it is laid down that: "No suit shall be instituted against the Government and no suit, prosecution or other proceedings shall be instituted against any officer or servant of the Government in respect of any act done or purporting to b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng of that section. But the question is whether the time spent in pursuing the matter in the High Court can be computed for the purpose of appeal as it could not be held that this Court from defect of jurisdiction was unable to entertain the petition. The jurisdiction of this Court in writ petition is certainly wide enough to cover cases of this nature. Strictly construing the section, therefore, it could not be held that the writ petition was dismissed from the defect of jurisdiction or other cause of a like nature. But, in the cases cited before me, it has been held that this section has to be liberally construed and though the causes of a like nature have to be of similar nature as defect of jurisdiction, failure to secure relief on the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hat even there this aspect was not fully considered. But in Janki Pershad v. Ram KripalA.I.R. 1951 Pat. 486., it was observed that: "The words 'or other cause of a like nature' in section 14(2) should be liberally construed. They must be construed ejusdem generis with defect of jurisdiction, that is to say, the defect must be of such a character as to make it impossible for the court to entertain the suit or application and to decide it on merits." Decisions which have taken a different view are also available; for example, a Bench of the Patna High Court in Radha Kishun v. Firm Sri Niwas Ram Kumar A.I.R. 1944 Pat. 225. has held that section 14 of the Limitation Act would only be attracted when there is refusal to interfere by the High ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he material on record to show that the appellant was manufacturing agricultural implements from the scrap iron. What is scrap iron has not been defined anywhere; but if it is to be deemed to be the same stuff as raw iron mentioned in item 29 of Schedule I, agricultural implements manufactured from that stuff have to be exempted. Unfortunately, the appellant has not furnished any information to the Sales Tax Authorities in regard to the manufacture of his goods. The order of assessment is based on the personal inspection of the assessing authority. The lower court has elaborately dealt with this aspect of the case and reproduced a part of the order to substantiate the case of the department that for want of account books and other relevant s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the assessee was very unhelpful in giving any information regarding business. The closed books of other dealers of the same business at Ranigunj disclosed a turnover of about Rs. 4,00,000 during the previous year. This dealer is far bigger than the other dealers. The total business could, therefore, be easily estimated at Rs. 4,50,000; for the assessment order filed by the party estimated the sales at Rs. 4,00,000 in the previous year. They have inspected the premises and estimated the sales. The assessee declared that he had no bank account at that time and it was found that he had accounts by the I.T. authorities. The workshops were inspected several times and it was noticed that 50 per cent. of the total estimated sales of Rs. 4,50,000 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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