TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2016 (12) TMI 464
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....006 (hereinafter referred to as the State Act). 3. The orders impugned in these writ petitions are assessment orders for the years from 2007-08 to 2015-16. For the purpose of disposal of these writ petitions, it would suffice to refer to the facts in W.P.No.41906 of 2016, which pertains to an order of assessment for the year 2007-08 dated 31.10.2016. 4. The respondent issued a common notice dated 8.10.2016 for all the assessment years stating that on perusal of the returns filed by the petitioner from July 2007, it was observed that they received the stock of welded wire mesh from their head office at Puducherry and sold the same locally by charging tax at 4%, mentioning the Commodity Code as 2041, which pertains to declared g....
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.... Tamil Nadu Wire and Allied Products Association, Chennai-3 dated 10.7.2007 and (ii) Tvl.Bharat Agencies, Chennai dated 14.10.2007. Therefore, the petitioner submitted that the proceedings proposing to revise the turnover may be dropped. 7. After receipt of the objections dated 24.10.2016, the respondent afforded an opportunity of personal hearing to the petitioner and the petitioner's authorized representative, who is a Chartered Accountant, appeared before the respondent on 26.10.2016. After hearing the petitioner's authorized representative and taking into consideration the objections and the written submissions filed at the time of personal hearing, the respondent completed the assessment. 8. The first and foremost thing that ....
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....rary to the Statute and if the clarification is found to be contrary to the Statute, the Assessing Officer is bound to follow the Statute, as he discharges his duty in a quasi judicial capacity where executive subjugation is not of relevance except to the extent of discharge of the duty in the prescribed manner. 11. It was further observed that the content and body of his work is subjugate to the authority vested in him by the Taxing Statute and hence, the Assessing Officer has to follow the Statute notwithstanding the fact that the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes issued a clarification. In this regard, reliance was placed on the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Bengal Iron Corporation Vs. CTO [reported in 1993 (3)....
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.... counsel for the petitioners to bring the petitioners' product within the ambit of wire links. In fact, this is a secondary submission apart from the submission that the clarification of the Commissioner is binding on the Assessing Officer. 15. In paragraph 10 of the impugned assessment order, the respondent has given the following reasons as to what is the distinction between a wire link and welded wire mesh and for better appreciation, the same is extracted as hereunder : "In contrast, wire links are found to be made by weaving the wires into a mesh, always without being welded at the intersections. While welded mesh is created by laying wires in a simple horizontal and vertical latticework, with either square or rectangular spaces....
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....e, the distinct commercial identity of the two products does not permit them to be categorized as one and the same or one as a subset of the other." 16. Thus, the issue involved in these writ petitions is a classification issue. Further, the petitioner would state that the clarification would bind the Assessing Officer. Prima facie, this Court is not convinced with the said submission, since the Assessing Officer has taken a specific stand in the impugned assessment orders as to why he proposed to deviate from the clarification and has rendered a specific finding that the clarification is contrary to the Statute. Therefore, this Court is not inclined to entertain the writ petitions. 17. However, taking note of the fact that the clarificat....