2020 (3) TMI 521

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....se writ petitions inter alia challenging the clarification issued by the learned Commissioner of Commercial Taxes under Section 28A of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 (in short "TNGST Act") holding that "Imported Pile Fabrics" was taxable at 16% as per entry No.22A Part E of the First Schedule to the TNGST Act, 1959 for the Assessment year 2000-01 in question. The consequential assessment order passed for this assessment period 2000-01 by the learned Assessing Authority against the present Assessee on 27.05.2009 is challenged in another writ petition by which the learned Assessing Authority imposed the 16% Sales Tax in terms of the order passed by the learned Commissioner. 3.The third writ petition has been filed by the Assess....

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....of this Court and the entry 22A itself deserves to be declared ultra vires under Section 14(vii) of the CST Act, 1956. 6.Per contra, the learned counsel for the Revenue submitted that the Assessee imported pile fabrics during the year in question were not the declared goods and therefore having taxed at the rate of 16% under entry No.22A in terms of the clarification issued by the learned Commissioner on 28.03.2009. 7.We have heard the learned counsels for some time and perused the records. The crux of the problem lies in the order passed by the learned Commissioner under Section 28A of the Act, which is as brief and non speaking as it could be. The learned Commissioner, while exercising the powers under Section 28A of the Act, which ....

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....ble act of deciding the rate of tax on a particular commodity ought to have discussed the nature of commodity, the evidence adduced by the Assessee, the reasons given by the learned Commissioner for holding a particular rate of tax applicable to the commodity in question. None of these aspects relevant and necessary for deciding a controversy under Section 28A of the Act have been reflected in the impugned order and that has given rise to the present litigation, which has been pending on the board of this Court for the last 11 years without any useful purpose. 10.The Assessee not only challenged this order, but under the garb of this order even laid a frivolous challenge to the entry 22A itself without disclosing how the said entry was i....

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....ll reasoned order can be passed by the learned Commissioner in exercise of his power under Section 28A of the Act. 12.Before parting, we would like also to observe that some such other non speaking orders passed by the Commissioner in exercise of Section 28A of the Old TNGST Act, 1959 and Section 48A of the TNVAT Act, 2006 have come on our notice quite often and some kind of non-speaking orders are passed by the learned Commissioners without appreciating the responsibility which lies upon them to pass well reasoned quasi judicial orders. Under these powers, such non speaking orders result in unnecessary litigation in the Constitutional Courts and there seems to be no check on such casual exercise of powers by the responsible officers of ....