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2013 (4) TMI 674 - KERALA HIGH COURTBelated return - non-compliance of Rule 98(1) on the part of the petitioner rendering him liable for interest - KVAT Act - Held that:- As from Ext.P3 endorsement made by the authorised signatory of ICICI Bank, it is seen that the cheques presented by the petitioner could have been collected in any location of ICICI Bank including at Manjeri. Therefore, when the cheque was presented by the 1st respondent to SBT, Manjeri, its Bank, the SBT could have locally collected the cheque and avoided any delay in realising the amount. On the other hand, they chose to send it to Kottayam for encashment and it was in that process the delay has occurred. Thus once payment has been made as above, for reasons beyond the control of the petitioner, if realization has been delayed, either for reasons which are attributable to the respondents or the Bank, the dealer cannot be made liable on the basis that on account of the delay in realising the tax due, delay has occurred. If the payment made by the petitioner was in any manner defective, the 1st respondent had an obligation to issue demand notice,as per Rule 22(7) which requirement has not been complied with. Secondly, Rule 98 at the relevant time provided that the cheques shall be of a Bank which is a member of the clearing house situated within the jurisdiction of the authority before whom it is presented and petitioner has made available SRO 318/05 issued under Section 3(3) of the KVAT Act, which show that while the headquarters of the 1st respondent is at Malappuram, his functional jurisdiction extended to functions assigned by the Commissioner. Thus the functional jurisdiction of the 1st respondent is not confined to Manjeri alone, going by the terms of the SRO. It is apparently on account of the above vagueness in the matter that the expression "within the jurisdiction" occurring in Rule 98 was substituted with the expression "in the headquarters" by SRO 7/08 dated 31/2/07 - non-compliance of Rule 98(1) not proved.
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