TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (8) TMI 925
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....ed a show cause notice dated 15th February 2019 calling upon petitioner to show cause as to why, (i) 10% additional income should not be added to the total sales turnover of Rs.45,67,01,209/- and should not be taxed for want of registers, bills and LR?; (ii) A tax free sale of Rs.137,23,19,397/- should be not taxed for want of proper ledger and invoices etc.?; and (iii) A OMS sale of Rs.114,58,12,785/- should not be disallowed for want of supporting documents like bills, LR? In the petition at hand, we are only concerned with the third item, i.e., OMS sale of Rs.114,58,12,785/- being disallowed. 4. In the show cause notice, respondents have relied upon an investigation report of Joint Commissioner of State Tax, Investigation - A, Mumbai. Respondents have also relied upon statement and reports of Railway Authorities. The relevant portion reads as under : As per investigation report of Jt. Commissioner of State Tax, Investigation - A, Mumbai, Manifest are not matched with the manifest of Railway authorities and more than 50% manifests produced by the dealer were not found with railway record. Railway authorities not opened any cartoons nor inspected before loading in train. De....
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....nted or else it would have been reflected in the rectification order. On this ground alone, the rectification order has to be set aside. 7. Since ex-facie respondent no.3 has not followed the principles of natural justice, we find no reason why we must adjourn the matter again to give an opportunity to respondent to file a reply. A justification of the action taken should have been reflected in the orders passed and it can never be supplemented by any affidavit. 8. In the circumstances, we have no hesitation in setting aside the two impugned orders dated 30th March 2019 and 26th August 2019, which we hereby do and remand the matter for denovo consideration to an officer other than Mr. Balasaheb B. Satpute, Deputy Commissioner of Sales Tax, who had passed the two impugned orders. 9. At this stage, Mr. Thakar states that the same officer had passed a separate order dated 30th March 2019 under Section 23 (2) of the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 in which there is also a reference and reliance placed on the same investigation report of the Sales Tax Investigation team. Mr. Thakar states that this order was not challenged because there is a refund of Rs.18,69,54,181/- to be ad....
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....e been inferred against the writ petitioner. However, as commented at the outset, the amount of costs as awarded by the High Court in this matter is rather on the lower side. Considering the overall conduct of the petitioner No.2 and the corresponding harassment faced by the writ petitioner we find it rather necessary to enhance the amount of costs. Upon our having made these observations, learned counsel for the petitioners has attempted to submit that the questions of law in this case, as regards the operation and effect of Section 129 of Telangana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and violation by the writ petitioner, may be kept open. The submissions sought to be made do not give rise to even a question of fact what to say of a question of law. As noticed hereinabove, on the facts of this case, it has precisely been found that there was no intent on the part of the writ petitioner to evade tax and rather, the goods in question could not be taken to the destination within time for the reasons beyond the control of the writ petitioner. When the undeniable facts, including the traffic blockage due to agitation, are taken into consideration, the State alone remains responsible for....
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....ion. The practice of frequently violating principles of natural justice, non consideration of replies of assessees under one pretext or the other or rejecting it with one or two lines orders without recording reasons for rejection, is gradually increasing which needs to be taken care of immediately by the respondents at the highest level, otherwise prevailing situation of arbitrary approach and breach of principles of natural justice may not only adversely affect the assessees who pay revenue to the Government, but also may develop a perception amongst people/assessees that it is difficult to get justice from the authorities in statutory proceedings. The Apex Court in the case of Lucknow Development Authority V/s. M.K. Gupta 1994 SCC (1) 243 in paragraphs 10 and 11 has considered the abuse of power by public authorities and held as under : "10. ........................ The jurisdiction and power of the courts to indemnify a citizen for injury suffered due to abuse of power by public authorities is founded as observed by Lord Hailsham in Cassell & Co. Ltd. v. Broome on the principle that, an award of exemplary damages can serve a useful purpose in vindicating the strength of law&....
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....s found that exercise of discretion was mala fide and the complainant is entitled to compensation for mental and physical harassment then the officer can no more claim to be under protective cover. When a citizen seeks to recover compensation from a public authority in respect of injuries suffered by him for capricious exercise of power and the National Commission finds it duly proved then it has a statutory obligation to award the same. It was never more necessary than today when even social obligations are regulated by grant of statutory powers. The test of permissive form of grant is over. It is now imperative and implicit in the exercise of power that it should be for the sake of society. When the court directs payment of damages or compensation against the State the ultimate sufferer is the common man. It is the tax payers' money which is paid for inaction of those who are entrusted under the Act to discharge their duties in accordance with law. It is, therefore, necessary that the Commission when it is satisfied that a complainant is entitled to compensation for harassment or mental agony or oppression, which finding of course should be recorded carefully on material an....