TMI Blog1966 (11) TMI 80X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e order of assessment came to be passed. The petitioner appealed to the Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Belgaum, complaining that the original authority had not given him sufficient opportunity to produce the necessary declarations, and actually produced some declarations before the appellate authority The appellate authority received those declarations and gave the petitioner the benefit of reduced rate to the limit of the transactions covered by the said declarations. Thereafter the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes in Mysore, acting in exercise of his suo motu power of revision under section 21 of the Mysore Sales Tax Act, gave notice to the petitioner why the appellate order should not be set aside and after hearing him made an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uce 'C' Forms, nor has it recorded therein that the appellate authority was satisfied that the assessee had not been guilty of any laches or is otherwise entitled to any concession or latitute by way of condonation of delay. So far as the said additional argument addressed before us is concerned, it is sufficient to note that that is not the reason on which the revising authority had proceeded to interfere with the order of the appellate authority. The clear opinion entertained by the revising authority on the basis of which it proceeded to set aside the order of the appellate authority is that the order of the latter was illegal, improper or irregular. Although three words are used the actual opinion of the revising authority appears to be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ore, what the essence of the matter is that, before an assessee can secure the benefit of the concessional rate, he should furnish the assessing authority with sufficient information set out in the form prescribed by the rules to enable him to determine the turnover in respect of which concession could be granted. The purpose of the statute is also sought to be served by the details or particulars required to be set out in the form. Although the rule requires that ordinarily the forms should be annexed to the returns, the argument that a return unaccompanied by those forms should be regarded as wholly incomplete was rejected by this Court in Madurai Mudaliar Sons v. Commissioner of Commercial Taxes[1964] 15 S.T.C. 900. The effect of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y to produce the same. The same was obviously accepted by the appellate authority, and that opinion of the appellate authority has not even been dissented from by the revising authority in its order. In such a position, it is not disputed, nor can it be, that it would have been open to the appellate authority to set aside the order of assessment and remit the matter back to the original authority with a direction to give an opportunity to the assessee to produce the forms and then proceed to dispose of the assessment. If so, we see no reason why the appellate authority, instead of taking up the time of the department, should not have proceeded to dispose of the matter itself on the basis of the forms produced before it. That is exactly wh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as in these cases the assessee was clearly guilty of laches." (Page 902 of 15 Sales Tax Cases 900). But it is now necessary for us to express an opinion on that point and we find it difficult to accept the rather strict view taken by the Madras High Court. We have already pointed out what the substance of the matter is and what may be regarded as the material point of time at which the forms are necessary for purpose of completing the assessment. We have also pointed out that the appellate authority has not only the power but the duty to correct the mistake, if any, committed by the original authority. If that much is granted, it will be an unnecessary abridgement of the powers of the appellate authority and deprivation of its authority ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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