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TMI Blog2019 (4) TMI 1398X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Industrial Association'. They sent Ext.P2 representation to the Goods and Services Tax Council on 27.07.2017 by post. They alleged that levy of 18% goods and services tax on recycled plastic products had made adverse impact on that industry. The prayer made in Ext.P2 representation was for completely withdrawing levy of tax on the recycled plastic products. On 31.07.2017, they sent similar representations (Exts.P1, P3 and P4) to the Central Government and the State Government and also to the Secretary of the Health Department of the State. 2. On 01.08.2017, respondents 1 to 3 in the writ appeal, filed W.P.(C) No.25613/2017 before this Court for issuing a writ of mandamus to the Goods and Services Tax Council to dispose of Ext.P2 repre ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ) and also the learned counsel for respondents 1 to 3/writ petitioners. 6. Learned Senior Standing Counsel who appeared for the appellants contended that the Goods and Services Tax Council is a constitutional body and its functions and duties are clearly mentioned in the Constitution. Learned Senior Standing Counsel would contend that it is not the function of the Goods and Services Tax Council to receive representations from the general public and to conduct personal hearings and to pass orders on such representations and therefore, a writ of mandamus as issued by this Court in the impugned judgment, will not lie against the Council. We find considerable force in this contention. 7. Article 279A was inserted in the Constitution of Indi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... al resources during any natural calamity or disaster; (g) special provision with respect to the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand; and (h) any other matter relating to the goods and services tax, as the Council may decide." 9. Sub-clause (6) of Article 279A of the Constitution states that while discharging the functions, the Goods and Services Tax Council shall be guided by the need for a harmonised structure of goods and services tax and for the development of a harmonised national market for goods and services. Sub-clause (11) provides that the Goods and Services Tax Council shall establish a mechanism to adjudicate any di ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... applies for it has got sufficient legal interest. An order of mandamus is, in form, a command directed to a person or authority to do a particular thing pertains to his or its office and in the nature of a public duty. In order to issue a writ of mandamus to compel a party to do something, it must be shown that the statute imposes a legal duty upon that party and that the person seeking the writ has a legal right under the statute to enforce its performance. The writ of mandamus is limited to the enforcement of the obligation imposed by law. 12. Ext.P2 representation was sent by the writ petitioners to the Goods and Services Tax Council, through post, on 27.07.2017. Exts.P1, P3 and P4 representations were sent by them, through post, to t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tly, in the judgment titled as Government of India v. P.Venkatesh (judgment dated 01.03.2019 in Civil Appeal No.2425 of 2019), the Apex Court has observed as follows: "This 'dispose of the representation' mantra is increasingly permeating the judicial process in the High Courts and the Tribunals. Such orders may make for a quick or easy disposal of cases in overburdened adjudicatory institutions. But, they do no service to the cause of justice". 15. After the conclusion of the hearing in the appeal, learned counsel for the appellant produced before us the copy of the decision rendered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited v. Securities and Exchange Board of India : AIR 2012 SC 3829 = 2012 (9) ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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