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2017 (7) TMI 375 - HC - VAT and Sales TaxSales-tax Incentives scheme - investment made by the petitioners in the fixed assets for the Unit of commissioning of the said project in two phases - quantum of investment for the eligibility certificate - mistake in publication - interpretation of statute - whether the petitioner-Company is entitled to incentives/ sales tax exemption under the Scheme on the investment/ expenditure incurred after 31st December 2005 and upto 31st December 2007 treating the Phase II project of the petitioners as a pipeline project and/or on the investment/expenditure incurred after 31st December 2005, but within a period of 18 months from the date of commencement of commercial production? Held that: - it is required to be noted that in case of Small Scale Industrial Units, Medium and Large scale Industrial Units, the assets acquired upto the period of six months or within 1 year from the date of commencement of commercial production or till the date of completion of the said Scheme ie., 31st December 2005; whichever is earlier between the two, shall be considered eligible for the purpose of Incentives. However, in the Gujarati version of the Incentive Scheme, the expression “whichever is earlier between the two” is missing in case of Industrial Units having project cost exceeding ₹ 10 Crores. The aforesaid seems to be an inadvertent mistake in publication/typing - Nobody can be permitted to take undue advantage/ disadvantage of the beneficial Scheme due to inadvertent mistake in publication. It is required to be noted that even considering Clause 3.8 of the Scheme, in case of Industrial Units having project cost exceeding ₹ 10 Crores, it is mentioned that the assets acquired within a period of 18 months form the date of commencement of production, or till the completion of the said Scheme, shall be considered eligible for the purpose of incentives. Therefore, the submissions made on behalf of the petitioners that the assets acquired upto 30th April 2007 are required to be considered eligible for the purpose of incentive; if is accepted, in that case, the words/expressions “till the completion of the said Scheme” shall be meaningless. The intention of the framers of the Scheme ie., the State Government is very clear and unambiguous ie., to consider the assets acquired maximum upto 31st December 2005 shall be considered eligible for the purpose of incentives, or the assets acquired within a period of 18 months from the date of commencement of commercial production, if the same is before 31st December 2005. Even the petitioners also understood that the assets acquired within a period of 18 months from the commencement of commercial production or till the Scheme ends on 31st December 2005 [whichever is earlier between the two] shall be considered eligible for the purpose of the incentive. It is also not the case on behalf of the petitioners in the petition that in fact they understood, considering Clause 3.8 that the assets acquired within a period of 18 months from the date of commencement of the commercial production shall also be considered eligible for incentive and therefore, they made investment subsequently. The petitioners have also not pleaded any estoppel or promissory estoppel. Under the circumstances, when the petitioners and all other Industrial Units/ Undertakings/Projects [105 in number] understood the Scheme, the manner in which the State Government had pleaded and all are treated equally and in case of all Industrial Undertakings/Projects, the assets acquired only upto 31st December 2005 are considered eligible for the purpose of incentive, the petitioners are not entitled to incentive on the assets acquired subsequently after commencement of commercial production or after 31st December 2005. The petitioners are not entitled to the incentives/Sales-tax exemption on the total expenses/investment made thereafter upto 31st December 2007 and/or upto 31st April 2007; as claimed. It is also held that they are entitled to Incentives/Sales-tax exemption on the investment made or assets acquired upto the date of commercial production upto 30th October 2005 - petition dismissed - decided against petitioner.
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