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TMI Blog2020 (2) TMI 1191X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed by the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal on 12.12.2003, whereby the Tribunal upheld the order passed by the first appellate authority and held that belated filing of the declaration in Form 'C' without sufficient reasons was not permitted and such declaration forms could not be furnished by the Assessee at the appellate stage so as to allow the concessional rate of tax under the Central Sales Tax Act. 2. The relevant portion of the order of the learned Tribunal is quoted below for ready reference. "8. On perusal of the assessment order, it was seen that the assessing officer during the scrutiny of the assessment records noticed that there was some misclassification in turnover adopted in the original assessment order dated 31.3.97. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hat they were prevented by sufficient cause in not furnishing the declaration forms. On perusal of the order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, it was seen that the appellants furnished the C declaration forms to the tune of Rs. 2,52,85,179.50. At the time of hearing, the learned Appellate Assistant Commissioner was unable to accept the same and grant them concessional rate as per the judgments of the Madras High Court reported in 94 STC 410 and 51 STC 381. The appellants also could not produce 'C' declaration forms for the remaining turnover before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner at the time of hearing. We also perused the typed set of papers produced by the appellants. The appellants could not produce any letter for the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... urt judgment and the Circular dated 01.02.2000 are quoted below for ready reference. "Extract from the judgment in "State of Andhra Pradesh -Vs- Hyderabad Asbestos Cement Production Ltd.," (1994) STC 410" Therefore, the mere use of the words "the first assessing authority" in sub-rule (7) of Rule 12 of the Central Sales Tax (Registration and Turnover) Rules, 1957, which prescribes the furnishing of form C issued by a dealer who purchases goods from the dealer submitting his return of turnover, cannot and does not mean, in the context and scheme of the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh enactments, that the appellate authorities do not have the power to receive form C in appeal. This power can, of course, be exercised only where sufficient ca ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ugan and Co., has held that- "Given the assessing authority's undoubted power to allow further time for 'C' Forms to be filled on sufficient cause, the rest of its mere procedure or follow up action. Where the assessing authority is satisfied, in a given case, about the existence of sufficient cause, it must necessarily be followed up by appropriate action, such as reopening the assessment authority's statutory already completed. Perhaps the requisite corrective action can be taken by invoking the assessing authority's statutory power of rectification of mistakes. Even otherwise, the implementation, in appropriate cases, of the power to allow further time cannot be withheld on the excuse that there is no express provis ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ons already issued in the circulars first and second cited." 6. Having heard the learned counsel for the parties, we have seen the records and we find that the Assessee was constantly pursuing their purchasers for 'C' declaration forms and inspite of the best efforts taken by the Assessee, the purchasers omitted to handover the forms and the Assessee had sent several reminders to their purchasers. However, inspite of the efforts taken by them for obtaining such 'C' forms, the same could be procured only when the appeal was pending before the appellate authority and the same were furnished before the appellate authority. But, the Appellate Authority, without considering the said efforts taken by the Assessee, merely brushed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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