TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1996 (4) TMI 404
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....nt claimed that when the Advocates Act, 1961, came into force, he was entitled to be enrolled as an advocate by the Bar Council of Maharashtra. It has been contended by Mr. Ganpule appearing on behalf of the appellant, that the appellant was entitled to be enrolled as an advocate by virtue of the provisions of sub-section (3)(aa) of section 24 of the Advocates Act, 1961. There is no dispute that he does not have a degree in law or for that matter any degree, but he is a person who was entitled to practise the profession of law before 1st December, 1961 by virtue of the provisions of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959. Therefore, his right to be enrolled as an advocate could not be denied. We shall have to examine whether the appellant's case c....
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....fore 1st day of December, 1961. The appellant's case that he was appearing in sales tax matters before sales tax authorities under the Bombay Sales Tax Act has not been disputed. But that does not mean he was practising the profession of law. Section 71 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, empowers not only legal practitioners but many other persons to appear before a sales tax authority. Section 71 provides: "71. Appearance before any authority in proceedings.-(1) Any person, who is entitled or required to attend before any authority in connection with any proceeding under this Act, may attend- (a) by a relative or a person regularly employed by him, or (b) by legal practitioner or Chartered Accountant or Cost Accountant, who is not disq....
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....itioner. Even a relative or an employee of an assessee may appear on his behalf before a sales tax authority. He does not require to have any special qualification for doing that. If an employee appears regularly for his employer in connection with sales tax cases of his employer before a sales tax authority, he cannot be treated to be a legal practitioner or entitled otherwise to practise the profession of law by virtue of section 71 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act. The second category of persons, who are entitled to appear before sales tax authorities under clause (b) of section 71, are professionally qualified persons. A legal practitioner or a chartered accountant or a cost accountant may appear before a sales tax authority on behalf of h....
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....ore the sales tax authority may only be for the purpose of filing a return and producing documents in support of the return. A relative or an employee or an accountant or a sales tax practitioner can be asked to do this job by an assessee for and on his behalf. That does not mean that any one of the aforesaid persons is practising the profession of law when he appears before the statutory authority and produces the accounts. He may even be called upon to explain the accounts or justify the entries made in the account books. There may be problems only of book-keeping and accountancy and nothing of law in such proceedings. Therefore, it cannot be inferred straightaway that because the sales tax practitioner has been given a right to appear be....
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....e Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959 and get myself enrolled as sales tax practitioner under section 71, read with rule 66(2) of that Act." The question asked by the Secretary, Bar Council of Maharashtra, is also important for the purpose of this case. The sales tax practitioner is required to be conversant with accountancy principles and practice. He may not be a qualified chartered accountant or a cost accountant, but he must have some familiarity with accountancy practice. This is apparent from the requisite qualification of a sales tax practitioner under rule 66 of the Bombay Sales Tax Rules: "66. Qualifications of a sales tax practitioner.-(1) A sales tax practitioner shall be eligible for having his name entered in the list of sales tax pra....
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....ognised by the Central Board of Revenue or has acquired a degree in commerce from a recognised University. These rules go to show that apart from lawyers and chartered or cost accountants, other persons are allowed to practise in the Sales Tax Department as sales tax practitioner provided they have acquired some knowledge of accountancy. They will have to pass one of the many recognised accountancy courses for this purpose. This goes to show that the sales tax practitioner does not carry on the profession of law when he appears before a Sales Tax Officer. His practice is more in the nature of that of an accountant. Therefore, we are unable to uphold the contention that merely because the appellant was allowed to practise as a sales tax pr....