Conditional restoration of amnesty benefit after defective tax intimation despite default in initial payment requirement.

Statutory amnesty under section 23B of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act required payment of 25% of the reduced tax within 15 days of the intimation, and default in that initial payment rendered the benefit ineffective in principle. However, the assessing officer's intimation was defective because it did not follow the prescribed form and did not properly set out the instalment schedule. On that basis, and in the absence of a formal revocation, the Court restored the amnesty benefit conditionally, subject to payment of the additional amounts fixed by the Court; failing compliance, recovery could proceed.

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Issues: Whether the assessee forfeited the amnesty benefit for failure to pay 25% of the reduced tax within the time stipulated under section 23B(4) of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, and whether the benefit could nevertheless be restored on account of defects in the intimation issued by the assessing officer.

Analysis: The amnesty scheme under section 23B required prompt payment of 25% of the reduced amount within 15 days of receipt of the intimation, while section 23B(5) dealt with cancellation on default in instalment payments. The Court held that non-payment of the initial 25% within the stipulated time rendered the amnesty order ineffective and the benefit stood forfeited in principle. At the same time, the intimation issued by the assessing officer was found to be deficient because it did not follow the prescribed form and did not properly indicate the instalment schedule. In view of those defects, and since no formal revocation had been issued, the Court restored the amnesty benefit conditionally, requiring payment of further interest amounts within the time fixed by the Court.

Conclusion: The assessee's default initially disentitled it from unconditional amnesty, but the benefit was restored subject to payment of the additional amounts ordered by the Court; failing such payment, recovery could continue.

Final Conclusion: The appeal was disposed of by granting conditional relief to the assessee for the disputed assessment years, while preserving recovery for default and for the remaining years.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory amnesty benefit requiring timely payment of the stipulated initial amount may stand forfeited on default, but defective statutory intimation can justify conditional restoration of the benefit where the scheme's requirements are otherwise substantially engaged.

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