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2016 (6) TMI 727 - HC - VAT and Sales TaxRefund - process of pre-audit before granting refund to the petitioners - Held that:- On all counts, the procedure adopted by the department was wholly unauthorised and impermissible in law. To be bound by an order of higher authority in an administrative set up is entirely different from the discretion of a statutory authority being governed by an outside agency. In effect the directions to pass the order in a particular manner came to be issued by an authority who was a party in the appeal and therefore was a person interested in tax litigations. He disapproved the draft order passed by tax appellate authority and asked him to modify his order and forward a copy of fresh order to him. This would be in grossest breach of natural justice and the order would be tainted by bias. The Joint Commissioner had already passed a draft order which contained detailed discussion, reasons and ultimate conclusions including directions to be issued. It is true that an order which is not yet signed by the competent authority would remain as a draft and ordinarily and for valid reasons it would always be open for the authority to pass another or different order before it is signed. However, in the present case, the order remained at a draft stage only on account of wholly unauthorised interference by the external authority. We therefore, direct the Joint Commissioner to proceed to pass the order in terms of the draft order dated 26.2.2010 latest by 10th July, 2016. We are informed that the then Joint Commissioner who had framed the draft order has retired and he has been replaced by another officer. For our purpose this would make no difference. The Government agencies are not without any remedy in case an erroneous or even palpably wrong order being passed. Statute provides for sufficient safeguards in terms of the appeals and revisions. It is always open to the Government to have any such order legally scrutinised and resort to such legal remedy as is provided in the statute. - Decided in favor of petitioner.
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