Conditional sales tax deferral denied after unapproved expansion breached eligibility terms and statutory appeal was bypassed.

Writ relief was unavailable because the assessment orders were appealable under the sales tax statute and the assessee bypassed the statutory appellate remedy. The court also held that the interest-free sales tax deferral could not continue once the unit installed additional spindles without obtaining a corresponding modification or approval to the eligibility certificate and agreement. A tax concession granted subject to express conditions must be strictly complied with, and breach of those conditions justified denial of the benefit and sustained the assessment action. The challenge to the revised notices and assessment therefore failed.

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Issues: (i) whether the writ petitions were maintainable when an efficacious statutory appellate remedy was available under the sales tax statute; (ii) whether the petitioner remained entitled to the interest free sales tax deferral benefit after installing additional spindles without obtaining corresponding modification or approval under the eligibility certificate and agreement.

Issue (i): whether the writ petitions were maintainable when an efficacious statutory appellate remedy was available under the sales tax statute.

Analysis: The assessment orders were appealable under the statute, and the petitioner bypassed that remedy and invoked writ jurisdiction directly. In tax matters, writ interference is ordinarily declined when the statutory appellate mechanism is available and not exhausted.

Conclusion: The writ petitions were not maintainable on this ground.

Issue (ii): whether the petitioner remained entitled to the interest free sales tax deferral benefit after installing additional spindles without obtaining corresponding modification or approval under the eligibility certificate and agreement.

Analysis: The eligibility certificate and the agreement limited the deferral benefit to the conditions specifically imposed, including use of the unit in accordance with the sanctioned terms and the stipulated basis for any expansion or increased production. The petitioner increased the spindle capacity substantially without reporting the change or securing the necessary alteration in the certificate, thereby violating the conditions attached to the concession. A conditional fiscal incentive can be withdrawn or denied when its governing conditions are breached.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not entitled to the deferral benefit and the assessment action was sustained.

Final Conclusion: The challenge to the assessment and revised notices failed, and the four writ petitions were dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory tax concession granted subject to express conditions must be strictly complied with, and writ relief will ordinarily be refused where the assessee bypasses the available appellate remedy and is in breach of the conditions governing the concession.

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