Eligibility certificate cancellation cannot replace statutory appeal where committee granted approval and no concealment was shown

An eligibility certificate issued on the concurrence of the Divisional Level Committee could not be cancelled under section 4A(3) of the U.P. Trade Tax Act where the assessee had not concealed or suppressed material facts. The article states that, in such a situation, if the Revenue disputes the correctness of the original grant, the proper course is to file an appeal under section 10(2) rather than initiate cancellation proceedings. On that reasoning, cancellation proceedings based only on disagreement with the committee's decision are not the appropriate statutory remedy.

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Issues: Whether the cancellation of the eligibility certificate under section 4A(3) of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 was justified, and whether the Revenue ought to have challenged the grant of eligibility certificate by filing an appeal under section 10(2) of the Act instead of invoking cancellation proceedings.

Analysis: The Divisional Level Committee had considered the assessee's case for grant of eligibility certificate, and the certificate was ultimately issued with the concurrence of the committee members. The record also showed that there was no concealment or misleading information furnished by the assessee. In these circumstances, the earlier decisions relied upon held that where the grant of eligibility certificate rests on a committee decision, cancellation under section 4A(3) is not the proper course if the Revenue is ually challenging the correctness of that decision; the appropriate remedy is to file an appeal under section 10(2). Applying that principle, the notice and the cancellation order could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The cancellation under section 4A(3) was held to be unwarranted, and the assessee succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an eligibility certificate is granted on the basis of a committee decision and there is no concealment or suppression by the assessee, the Revenue cannot use cancellation proceedings under section 4A(3) as a substitute for the statutory appeal remedy under section 10(2).

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