Eligibility certificate application not time-barred where duplicate notification publication caused confusion and merits review was required.

An eligibility certificate application was held not to be time-barred under rule 6(a) where it was filed within 90 days of the operative publication of the 1999 amendment notification. The later publication date controlled because the Government's duplicated publication created confusion, and the applicant could not be prejudiced by that administrative lapse. The rejection for delay was therefore unsustainable, and the application had to be considered on merits rather than denied on a technical default.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner's application for an eligibility certificate was liable to be rejected as time-barred under rule 6(a) of the Haryana General Sales Tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 1999.

Analysis: The application was required to be filed within 90 days of the unit going into commercial production or the coming into force of the rule, whichever was later. The notification was published on 14 September 1999 and the petitioner applied on 25 November 1999, which was within 90 days of that publication. Although the notification had also been published earlier, the Government's own duplication of publication created confusion, and the petitioner could not be made to suffer for that administrative lapse. In any event, the matter concerned consideration of the claim on merits rather than rejection on a technical default.

Conclusion: The rejection on the ground of delay was unsustainable, and the petitioner was entitled to have its application considered on merits.

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