Mandatory prepayment under settlement scheme cannot be cured as a defect; summary rejection upheld for non-compliance.

Under the Tamil Nadu Sales Tax (Settlement of Arrears) Act, 2008, payment of ninety per cent of the amount payable with the settlement application is a mandatory statutory precondition. A shortfall in that payment is not a curable defect or omission under Rule 3(5), which is limited to rectifying defects in the application itself. Because only sixty-three per cent of the arrears had been paid, the designated authority was justified in summarily rejecting the application under Section 6(3), and the writ appeal failed.

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Issues: Whether failure to pay ninety per cent of the amount payable along with the settlement application could be treated as a defect or omission so as to invoke Rule 3(5) of the Tamil Nadu Sales Tax (Settlement of Arrears) Rules, 2008, and whether the application was liable to summary rejection under Section 6(3) of the Tamil Nadu Sales Tax (Settlement of Arrears) Act, 2008.

Analysis: Section 6(3) of the Act makes payment of ninety per cent of the amount payable along with the application a mandatory condition and directs the designated authority to summarily reject the application if that requirement is not met. The shortfall in payment was not a curable defect or omission within the scope of Rule 3(5), which contemplates only rectification of defects in the application. Since only sixty-three per cent of the arrears had been paid, the statutory precondition was not satisfied.

Conclusion: The rejection of the settlement application was valid and the writ appeal failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Non-payment of the statutorily mandated ninety per cent of the amount payable under the settlement scheme is not a mere defect or omission but a substantive non-compliance attracting summary rejection.

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