Court Rules Against Penalizing Buyer for Supplier's Tax Default; Emphasizes Action Against Seller First.

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....Reversal of ITC - The High Court found that certain findings recorded by the adjudicating authority were outside the scope of the allegations in the show-cause notice. The authority had admitted that the appellant made payment of tax to the supplier against the transaction, but failed to remit the tax to the State exchequer. However, the court deemed it arbitrary to penalize the appellant without first conducting an enquiry with the supplier. - The Court reiterated the conditions prescribed in Section 16 (2) of the Act for a dealer to be eligible to avail credit of any input tax. - The Court highlighted the importance of action against the selling dealer before directing the appellant to reverse the input tax credit. It emphasized that unless exceptional circumstances exist, proceedings should be initiated against the supplier first.....