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2019 (7) TMI 350

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....trict Kheda; B. Pending notice, admission and final hearing of this petition, this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to direct the learned Respondent authorities to forthwith comply with the order of the learned first appellate authority (annexed at Annexure D) and withdraw/delete the attachment entered in revenue records on property located at Survey No. 968 (Old Survey No. 1310/1), Manij, Taluka Mahemdabad, District Kheda; C. Ex parte ad interim relief in terms of prayer B may kindly be granted; D. Such further relief(s) as deemed fit in the facts and circumstances of the case may kindly be granted in the interest of justice for which act of kindness your petitioner shall forever pray." 3. The case of the writ-applicant in his own words as pleaded in the writ-application is as under: "2. The Petitioner is a co-owner of land along with plant and machinery located at Survey No. 968 (Old Survey No. 1310/1), Manij, Taluka Mahemdabad, District Kheda. The 1st Respondent is the State of Gujarat. The 2nd Respondent is an officer of the State of Gujarat entrusted with the task of collecting tax under the Sales Tax Act and thereby being a State within the ....

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....tioner has been repeatedly requesting for implementation of order of the learned first appellate authority with his jurisdictional officer orally as well as in writing. 11. Despite the fact that the learned first appellate authority has quashed and set aside the attachment order dated 27.11.2001 the learned Respondent authorities are not giving effect to such order by withdrawing/deleting the attachment from the revenue records. 12. It may be noted that the company also preferred appeals for challenging the assessment orders passed under the CST Act. While the dues as raised in assessment were substantially reduced in appeals, partial dues came to be confirmed by the appellate authorities as well as by this Hon. Court. 13. While the learned Respondent authorities have reduced the amount for which attachment was made in the revenue records, they have failed to withdraw/delete the attachment pursuant to order of the learned first appellate authority. 14. In the respectful submission of the Petitioner non-deletion of attachment on the property coowned by the Petitioner from the revenue records despite the fact that the learned first appellate author....

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....of manufacture and sale of industrial solvent. Ground of Appeal: For recovery of dues of the appellant attachment has been placed on leasehold land/plant/machinery which being illegal is liable to be quashed. Submission of the appellant: The appellant is carrying on business by taking land and machinery on lease. Appellant is limited company. Accounting records have been seized in the case of the appellant. Assessment was thereafter undertaken in which dues of Rs. 8,70,27,390 had arisen for which security has been demanded. The assessment of the dealer has been made on the basis of seized records. And property attachment has been made which is prayed to be set aside. In assessment of the appellant dated 12/4/06 Rs. 8,00,00,000 (Rupees Eight crores only) stands deleted and recovery of Rs. 72,00,000 (Rupees Seventy Two Lakhs only) remains outstanding. The plant, land and machinery in the case of the appellant is leasehold and the property is not owned by the company but obtained on lease. Therefore for the dues of the company attachment cannot be put on property belonging to someone else. Further following judgements of Hon. Supre....

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....1991 decided on June 17, 2004. The judgment reads thus: "1. Special Civil Application No.243 of 1991 challenges the constitutional validity of sub-section (4A) of Section 47 of the Gujarat Sales-tax Act, 1969 on the ground that the said provisions are violative of Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 300A of the Constitution of India. The said petition also challenges the order dated 5.8.1989 passed by the Assistant Sales-tax Commissioner (Appeals), Baroda on the basis of which the Deputy Collector, Revenue Recovery, Bombay had initiated the proceedings for recovery of arrears of sales-tax dues of M/s. Choksi Plastics Pvt. Ltd. from the present petitioners who are the Directors of the said Company. The said proceedings are challenged on the ground that the Company and its Directors being separate legal entities, the liability of the Company to pay sales-tax cannot be fastened on the Directors personally or on the personal properties of the Directors, in absence of any provision to that effect under the Gujarat Sales-tax Act, 1969. Consequential reliefs are also prayed for in the petition. 2. Special Civil Application No.3103 of 1991 also challenges the constitutional validit....

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....his Court. After examining the provisions under challenge and the relevant authorities and after examining various submissions, this Court turned down the challenge and held as under:- "Section 47(4-A) of the Gujarat Sales Tax Act, 1969, which provides for payment of interest at the rate of 24 per cent per annum on amounts of tax not paid within the prescribed time or within the time specified in notices issued under Section 47(4) or on any amounts remaining unpaid, is a provision for payment of interest by a dealer who does not pay tax within the time prescribed for its payment, or on or before the date specified in the notice issued under sub-section (4). The liability to pay interest arises when tax becomes due, either as a result of furnishing of declaration or return by the dealer or on assessment or reassessment as the case may be. Interest is made payable on that HC-NIC Page 3 of 8 Created On Fri Jun 28 12:52:40 IST 2019 amount of tax which ought to have been paid earlier, i.e. within the prescribed time or the specified period and which has not been paid. Interest is made payable because Government to that extent is deprive of the use of money which otherwise it co....

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....ement of this Court, the prayers challenging the constitutional validity of the provisions of sub-section (4A) of Section 47 of the Gujarat Sales-tax Act, 1969 are hereby rejected. 8. Coming to the second controversy involved in Special Civil Application No.243 of 1991 and also in Special Civil Application No.7578 of 1991, Mr Hasurkar and Mr Mankad, learned counsel for the petitioners have submitted that since the Company and its Directors are separate legal entities, the liability of the Company to pay sales-tax on sale of goods effected by the Company cannot be fastened on the Directors personally or on the personal properties of the Directors. Referring to the provisions of Section 26, it is submitted that there are special provisions regarding liability to pay tax in certain cases like on the death of the dealer, partition of a Hindu undivided family, dissolution of a firm and transfer of business, termination of the guardianship or termination of the trust, but there is no provision fastening liability of a private Company on its Directors. Reliance is placed on the decisions in Desirajur Vennkatakrishna Sarma, In re, (1955) 25 Company Cases 32, Kundan Singh ....

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....s brought to our notice to indicate that the concerned authority had taken any conscious decision to fasten the Company's liability on the Directors of the Company personally or on their properties. 11. In view of the above factual position, it is not necessary to examine the controversy at length. Suffice it to state that the respondents are not in a position to point out any statutory provision empowering the sales-tax authorities to fasten the liability of Company on its Directors in the matter of payment of sales-tax dues. There appears to be substance in the submission made on behalf of the petitioners that Section 26 containing the said provision regarding liability to pay tax in certain cases covers several contingencies such as the liability in respect of the business carried on by an individual dealer after his death, the liability in respect of the dues where the dealer was an HUF and there is partition amongst various members or group of members; there is dissolution of a partnership firm and also in case of transfer of business in whole or in part. Unlike Section 179 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, there is no provision in the Sales-tax Act fastening the liabi....