Eligibility certificate renewal cannot be refused on doubtful billing irregularities and belated decision-making alone, the Court held.

Renewal of an eligibility certificate under rule 3(66) of the Bengal Sales Tax Rules was refused because the dealer allegedly mixed bills for sales and for repair/job-work without maintaining separate serials. The Court treated that objection as insufficient on the materials, noting that the dealer's sales and labour/job-work transactions were intermingled but not shown to involve a clear statutory breach warranting refusal. It also considered the long delay in deciding the renewal application and the resulting prejudice to the applicant, including changed business arrangements and tax consequences. The refusal to renew was therefore held unjustified, and the dealer was found entitled to the certificate for the relevant period.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to renewal of the eligibility certificate under rule 3(66) of the Bengal Sales Tax Rules despite the alleged mixing of bills for repair/job-work and sales, and the delay in deciding the renewal application.

Analysis: The renewal was refused on the footing that the dealer had not maintained separate serials for bills issued for sales of goods and for labour charges or job-work. The materials showed that the dealer manufactured rotary high vacuum pumps, had also undertaken repair work, and had issued bills in a manner that intermingled those transactions. The question whether such intermingling alone justified withholding renewal was treated as doubtful. The application for renewal had also remained pending for an unduly long period, and the petitioner was found to have suffered prejudice because taxes had not been collected and business arrangements had changed in the meantime.

Conclusion: The refusal to renew the eligibility certificate was not justified, and the petitioner was held entitled to the certificate for the relevant period.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition was allowed, with relief granted in terms of the prayers sought and no order as to costs.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statutory conditions for renewal are not clearly violated and the renewal application has been belatedly decided to the prejudice of the applicant, withholding the eligibility certificate is not warranted.

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