9911796707
TMI Blog1996 (1) TMI 392X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tel Oberoi Mountview, Chandigarh (now defunct and hereinafter referred to as "the assessee") was registered as a hotel and restaurant under the Act and had been carrying on its business as such. As part of its business as a hotelier, the assessee received guests to whom, besides furnishing lodging, it also provided several other amenities such as bath with hot and cold running water, linen, meals during fixed hours, etc. The bill given to the guests was an all-inclusive one, i.e., a fixed amount for the stay in the hotel for each day and did not specify different items of each of the facilities that were provided. The Assessing Authority, Union Territory, Chandigarh, charged sales tax by bifurcating the contract and the fixed amount charg ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the performance of which and as part of the amenities incidental to the service, the hotelier served meals at fixed hours. After this judgment was delivered the assessee filed applications in regard to each of the assessment years before the Commissioner with a request to exercise his suo motu powers under section 21 of the Act and revise the orders of the Assessing Authority as, according to the assessee, the order charging tax on food-stuffs by bifurcating the indivisible contract was an illegality committed by the Assessing Authority. The department opposed the applications it being contended that the Commissioner could not exercise his powers under section 21 of the Act on an application made before it by the assessee. It was also c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ise of the suo motu powers under section 21 of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948?" Before we deal with the aforesaid question, it is necessary to refer to the provisions of section 21 of the Act, the relevant part of which reads as under: "(1) The Commissioner may of his own motion call for the record of any proceedings which are pending before, or have been disposed of by any authority subordinate to him, for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the legality or propriety of such proceedings or order made therein and may pass such order in relation thereto as he may think fit." A perusal of the aforesaid provision shows that the Commissioner has been given the power to send for the records of any proceedings which are either p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... though the Commissioner is justified in initiating action on receipt of information even from an assessee, section 21 of the Act is not to be construed as giving statutory right to the assessee to prefer a revision petition. In other words, the assessee cannot require/compel the Commissioner to act on the information supplied by him and if the Commissioner chooses not to act on that information the assessee will have no right to make a grievance of it before any higher authority. It is true that the section does not contemplate the filing of an application by either party, i.e., Revenue or the assessee but nevertheless when any application is filed bringing some information to the notice of the Commissioner he may take a note of that inform ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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