High Court directs lifting of bank account attachment in CST assessment challenge

The High Court of Madras considered writ petitions challenging CST assessment orders due to delay in filing and bank account attachment. The court directed the lifting of attachment on one bank account upon payment of 50% of the tax demand. Failure to comply would result in reattachment and continued attachment on other accounts until appeal disposal. The petitioner was granted liberty to approach the Appellate Authority without pre-deposit conditions.

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Issues:
Challenge to assessment orders without approaching Appellate Authority, Delay in filing writ petitions, Pre-deposit condition for filing appeal, Arrangement for payment of 50% of tax demand, Bank account attachment, Directions for lifting attachment and filing appeals.

Analysis:
The High Court of Madras heard writ petitions concerning CST assessment against the petitioner for multiple assessment years. The assessment orders were served in February 2020 but were belatedly challenged in 2022 due to an order of attachment on the petitioner's bank accounts. The court noted the delay and lack of plausible reasons for not approaching the Appellate Authority earlier, considering rejecting the petitions on the ground of latches. However, the petitioner's counsel argued for the possibility of filing appeals before the Appellate Authority due to an extension granted by the Supreme Court due to the Covid-19 situation.

The petitioner proposed an arrangement to pay 50% of the tax demand to be able to file appeals. The total amount due, including penalty and interest, was Rs. 4,01,95,166. The court considered the submissions from both sides and directed the lifting of attachment on one bank account for the petitioner to pay Rs. 85,00,000, which was 50% of the tax demand. Upon payment, no further action would be taken by the Revenue based on the assessment orders. The petitioner was allowed to approach the Appellate Authority within two weeks to file regular appeals without any pre-deposit condition.

If the payment condition was not met within a week, the Revenue could reattach the bank account and proceed with recovery. The attachment on other bank accounts would continue until the appeal's disposal. The court emphasized prompt compliance for considering lifting attachments on other bank accounts. The writ petitions were disposed of with liberty granted to the petitioner to approach the Appellate Authority.

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