Eligibility certificate under sales tax incentive scheme effective from application date, not issuance date, where delay was not attributable to applicant.

Eligibility under the Sales Tax Incentive Scheme, 1987 was held to operate from the date the unit applied for the eligibility certificate, rather than from the later date of issuance. The application was filed within time with the required documents, and the delay in processing was not attributable to the applicant. Collection and payment of tax during the intervening period did not change the operative date of eligibility. The writ petition was allowed, and the assessee was entitled to the exemption benefit from the application date.

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Issues: Whether the eligibility certificate for exemption under the Sales Tax Incentive Scheme, 1987 was required to operate from the date of the application or only from the date of its issuance.

Analysis: The application for the eligibility certificate was filed in time and was accompanied by the requisite documents. The delay in disposal was not attributable to the applicant. The governing principle accepted was that the benefit under the scheme attaches from the date on which the unit applies for the certificate, and not from the later date on which the certificate is actually issued. The circumstance that tax had been collected and paid for an intervening period did not alter the date from which eligibility had to operate.

Conclusion: The eligibility certificate was to be effective from the date of application and not from the date of issuance. The writ petition was therefore allowed in favour of the assessee.

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