Writ challenge to TNVAT revision notices rejected as premature; exemption and purchase tax objections must first be raised before assessment.

Revision notices under Section 27 of the TNVAT Act were held to be premature to challenge in writ jurisdiction at the notice stage, because reopening of assessment is ordinarily examined first by the Assessing Officer unless the action is clearly time-barred or based on a demonstrable change of opinion. The dealers' reliance on the Section 15 exemption and their objections to proposed purchase tax under Section 12(1)(C) were treated as issues requiring first-instance assessment on facts and classification, to be placed before the Assessing Officer with supporting material. The Assessing Officer must decide the objections independently, without being controlled by third-party circulars or enforcement directions.

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Issues: Whether writ petitions challenging revision notices issued under Section 27 of the TNVAT Act were maintainable at the stage of notice, and whether the assessee was entitled to invoke the exemption under Section 15 of the TNVAT Act to resist proposed levy of purchase tax under Section 12(1)(C) of the TNVAT Act.

Analysis: The challenge was directed against revision notices proposing reopening of assessment and levy of purchase tax. Such reopening is ordinarily not interfered with in writ jurisdiction unless it is shown to be wholly time-barred or vitiated by a clear case of change of opinion. The questions raised by the dealers, including the applicability of the exemption and the correct classification of goods, were matters for the Assessing Officer to examine in the first instance. The proper course was to submit objections to the notices, whereupon the Assessing Officer was bound to decide the matter independently on the basis of the dealers' reply and supporting material, without being controlled by third-party circulars or enforcement directions.

Conclusion: The writ petitions were premature and not maintainable against the revision notices, and the challenge failed.

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