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2022 (4) TMI 557 - HC - VAT and Sales TaxAttachment of bank accounts of petitioner - escapement of turnover - framing of opinion - Section 44 of the GVAT Act, 2003 - HELD THAT:- In the absence of any debtor – creditor relationship, the department could not have asked the bank to debit the accounts of the writ applicant – company and credit a particular amount as specified in the notices to the treasury of the State Government. Ordinarily, when appeals are pending before the first appellate authority or the Tribunal, as the case may be, with an application seeking stay towards recovery of the tax, then, in such circumstances, the department should not proceed to take coercive steps for the recovery of the amount incurred by the dealer under the GVAT Act. This statement of ours should not be construed as an absolute proposition of law, but, the department is expected to at least wait for the final outcome of the appeals on their own merits, more particularly, when the appeals are already admitted. The Administrative directions for fulfilling recovery targets for the collection of revenue should not be at the expense of foreclosing the remedies which are available to assessees for challenging the correctness of a demand. The sanctity of the rule of law must be preserved. The remedies which are legitimately open in law to an assessee to challenge a demand cannot be allowed to be foreclosed by a hasty recourse to coercive powers. Assessing Officers and appellate authorities perform quasi-judicial functions under the GVAT Act, 2003. The impugned notices are hereby quashed and set aside - application allowed.
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