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2020 (2) TMI 852 - HC - GSTDelegation of powers u/s GST - delegation of powers by Commissioner of State Tax to the Special Commissioner of State Tax and the Additional Commissioners of State Tax - Legality and validity of the Notification No.EST/1/Jurisdiction/B.2168 dated 5th July 2017 - HELD THAT:- The delegation is the act of making or commissioning a delegate. It generally means parting of powers by the person who grants the delegation and conferring of an authority to do things which otherwise that person would have to do himself. Delegation is defined in the Black’s Law Dictionary as “the act of entrusting another with the authority by empowering another to act as an agent or representative”. In P.Ramanatha Aiyar’s, The Law Lexicon, “delegation is the act of making or commissioning a delegate. Delegation generally means parting of powers by the person who grants the delegation, but it also means conferring of an authority to do things which otherwise that person would have to do himself”. In the impugned notification it has been stated that the functions delegated shall be under the overall supervision of the Commissioner. When the Commissioner stated that his functions were delegated subject to his overall supervision, it did not mean or should not be construed as if he reserved to himself the right to intervene to impose his own decision upon his delegate. The words in the last part of the impugned notification would mean that the Commissioner could control the exercise administratively as to the kinds of cases in which the delegate could take action. Once the powers are delegated for the purpose of Section 69 of the Act, the subjective satisfaction, or rather, the reasonable belief should be that of the delegated authority The principle is: devolving power is permitted in the cases where the nature, scope, and purpose of the power in legislation means that it is unlikely that the Parliament intended that the power is to be exercised personally, and the only practical way the power can be exercised is by the officers who are responsible to the person (who has the power by legislation). This is also known as the principle of agency – where the agent is acting in the principal’s name. In the case on hand, Section 5(3) of the Act specifically confers power upon the Commissioner to delegate his functions. The power under Section 69 of the Act can be exercised by the authority upon whom the power is delegated provided the delegatee has reasons to believe that the assessee has committed offence under Section 132 of the Act. Therefore, the condition precedent, i.e. 'reasonable belief', for the purpose of exercise of power under Section 69 of the Act remains the same. Application dismissed.
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