Whether Sales Tax Department is above the law?

Whether Sales Tax Department is immune from Contempt of Court Proceedings?

Have a look on the following statement of Delhi High Court in the opening paragraphs of the recent case [Reported in 2008 -TMI - 3468 - HIGH COURT OF DELHI ]:

"This case exposes us to another unfortunate aspect of the underbelly of litigation in India "one where both litigating parties go hammer and tongs at each other with neither side willing to give any quarter. This may be understandable where the litigating parties are individuals or corporations  seeking a slice of the cake. But where one of the parties is the State, it is a little difficult to appreciate why a litigation should be fought tooth and nail, particularly when a Constitutional Court has repeatedly taken a view that is not only unfavourable to it, but has resulted in observations suggesting that the State is trying to overreach the process of the Court. There is also a severe indictment of a functionary of the State, by this Court, of interpolations and manipulations in an official order. This is perhaps what makes the stage show enacted by the State in this litigation a little distasteful and unpalatable if not sordid and tragic.

2. To make matter worse, if we were to include the initiation of contempt proceedings, this is the fifth time that the Petitioner has had to approach this Court for relief that was due to it as far back as in April, 2003 " such is the irony of this litigation, which has twice reached the Supreme Court already.

3.  Add to this the fact that when we requested learned counsel for the parties to let us know the expenses incurred by their clients so that meaningful costs could be awarded to the successful party, as laid down by the Supreme Court, we were shocked to learn that this litigation alone (not to mention the earlier forays in this Court or the Supreme Court) has cost the parties almost half a crore of rupees " so much for access to inexpensive and affordable justice!"

 [For full text of judgment visit - 2008 -TMI - 3468 - HIGH COURT OF DELHI]

State accountability in tax enforcement: court rebukes departmental conduct and orders reimbursement of litigation costs. The Delhi High Court censured the Sales Tax Department for aggressive litigation tactics and apparent manipulation of official orders in a tax refund dispute, noting repeated litigation since 2003 and threatened contempt proceedings. Emphasising administrative accountability and the erosion of access to justice, the Court directed the Department to reimburse the petitioner's litigation expenses as compensatory redress and underscored the availability of cost awards against State agencies.