Final tax incentive option under Haryana sales tax rules could not be changed from exemption to deferment before certificate issuance.

Rule 28A(3) of the Haryana General Sales Tax Rules required an eligible industrial unit to choose either exemption or deferment, and treated the exercised option as final except for a limited post-exercise shift from exemption to deferment for the remaining period and balance benefit. On that construction, a pre-certificate alteration from exemption to deferment was not permissible. The screening committee could not lawfully issue a deferment certificate where the application was for exemption, and the impugned eligibility certificate was held unsustainable. A fresh exemption certificate was directed instead.

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Issues: Whether, under Rule 28A(3) of the Haryana General Sales Tax Rules, 1975, the industrial unit's option once exercised for tax exemption could be altered to tax deferment before issuance of the eligibility certificate, and whether the screening committee could lawfully issue a certificate for deferment when the application was for exemption.

Analysis: Rule 28A(3) requires an eligible industrial unit to opt either for exemption or deferment, and makes the exercised option final, save for a limited change from exemption to deferment for the remaining period and balance quantum of benefit. The restriction on change of option showed that a pre-certificate shift from exemption to deferment was not contemplated. The respondents also offered no satisfactory explanation for the missing revised option letter or for the prolonged non-disposal of the petitioner's immediate representation challenging the certificate.

Conclusion: The impugned eligibility certificate granting deferment was not sustainable, and the petitioner was entitled to eligibility certificate for tax exemption.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded, and the petitioner obtained relief against the deferment-based certificate with directions for issuance of a fresh exemption certificate.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statutory option for tax incentive is expressed to be final, with only a limited post-exercise change permitted by the rule, the authority cannot substitute a different mode of benefit before the certificate is issued.

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