Deferred sales tax recovery cannot be accelerated before the certificate's repayment date, even after part-payment.

A demand notice seeking immediate recovery of deferred sales tax was unsustainable where the Final Eligibility Certificate required repayment only at the end of the specified financial year. The certificate bound both the assessee and the tax department, and the governing expression was repayment at year-end, not during the year. Earlier part-payment by the assessee did not permit accelerated coercive recovery before the stipulated date. The notice was set aside, and the department could proceed with recovery only if payment was not made after expiry of the repayment period.

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Issues: Whether the demand notice requiring immediate payment of the sales tax deferment amount for the relevant year could be sustained when the eligibility certificate provided for repayment only at the end of the financial year.

Analysis: The repayment obligation under the Final Eligibility Certificate was binding on both the assessee and the tax department. The certificate required repayment of the deferred sales tax amount at the end of the 14th year without interest, and the governing expression was repayment at the end of the year, not during the year. The fact that part-payment had been made earlier by the assessee did not authorise the department to insist upon full recovery before the stipulated year-end. Coercive recovery could therefore be initiated only after the repayment period expired.

Conclusion: The demand notice was unsustainable and was set aside; the assessee was entitled to time till the end of the financial year to make payment, and recovery could be taken only thereafter if payment was not made.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a tax deferment certificate prescribes repayment at the end of a specified period or year, the revenue cannot accelerate recovery before that stipulated date merely because part-payment has been made earlier.

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