TMI Blog1964 (4) TMI 108X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e assessment. So, they preferred appeals to the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes under section 19 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act. Along with the appeals, the assessees filed applications to the appellate authority to stay collection of the disputed tax amount pending disposal of the appeals. But the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes asked the appellants to pay the amount of tax within 7 days or in default to run the risk of their appeals being dismissed in limine. The petitioners were not able to pay the tax amount within the short period of 7 days. Consequently, the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes rejected their appeals on the sole ground of non-payment of the tax amount. The aggrieved assessees p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes in limine. There appears to be force in this contention. The words of section 21(6) appear to postulate a determination by the appellate authority under section 19 of the amount of tax payable by the appellant. This determination is undoubtedly a quasi-judicial determination on the merits of the appeal. In the cases on hand, no such determination on merits was made by the appellate authority, viz., the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes. Therefore, the condition of payment of the tax amount or proof of such payment contemplated by section 21(6) cannot reasonably come into force here. If section 21(6) does not apply, there does not appear to be any other provision to require the appellants (petiti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cial process which ought to have been complied with by the inferior Tribunals in a case like the present. The petitioners' learned counsel is content if the Tribunal would set aside the orders passed by the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes and direct him to grant a reasonable further time to them to pay the tax amounts so as to enable their appeals to the Assistant Commissioner to be entertained by him and disposed of on merits. I would leave this to be done by the Tribunal. As admitted by the petitioners' learned counsel, this is the limited scope of the appeals preferred to the Tribunal. The Tribunal has not to go into the merits of the assessment order passed by the Commercial Tax Officer, as rightly conceded before me by the p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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