Saving clause preserves accrued tax rights on repeal; section 16D claim must be considered on merits.

Repeal of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act did not extinguish an assessee's accrued right to seek relief under section 16D where the claim arose from the alleged absence of the mandatory pre-assessment notice under sections 12(2) and 12(3). The saving provision in section 88 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act preserved vested rights and liabilities on repeal and re-enactment, so the application under section 16D remained maintainable and had to be considered on merits. The rejection was unsustainable, and the matter was remitted for reconsideration, including the issue of laches.

---

---

Issues: Whether the petitioner's application under section 16D of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 survived its repeal by section 88 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 and could be rejected on the ground that the repealed Act had ceased to operate.

Analysis: The application was founded on an alleged failure to issue the mandatory pre-assessment notice under sections 12(2) and 12(3) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959. The Court held that the repeal of the TNGST Act did not destroy rights already accrued to the assessee, and that the saving provision in section 88 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 preserved such rights and liabilities. Relying on the principle that a saving clause preserves accrued and vested rights on repeal and re-enactment, and treating the corresponding provisions as in pari materia, the Court found that the petitioner's right to invoke section 16D had survived the repeal.

Conclusion: The rejection of the application was unsustainable; the petitioner was entitled to have the application under section 16D considered on merits, and the matter was remitted to the authority for reconsideration, including the question of laches.

---