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TMI Blog1988 (10) TMI 269X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Sales Tax Act, 1975. Assessment orders were passed by the Assistant Sales Tax Officer, Shri J.N. Gupta, on 27th April, 1985, 26th June, 1985 and 14th November, 1985 respectively. The sales tax levy was at 10 per cent of the value of the vehicle sold to the customer. Roughly the sales tax levied was around Rs. 5,000 per vehicle while the petitioners-dealers were entitled to commission of Rs. 2,000 per vehicle. Under suspicion that the petitioners and M/s. Maruti Udyog Limited had conspired to evade the Delhi sales tax, the Sales Tax Department of Delhi Administration carried out an administrative enquiry through Shri J.N. Gupta, Assistant Sales Tax Officer. He made some enquiries from the petitioners and looked up the documents incorporatin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... this regard and remanded the matter for fresh assessment by the Assistant Commissioner. The Supreme Court held: "Another serious infirmity in the order of the Assistant Commissioner was (a matter which even the Advocate-General quite fairly had to concede) that instead of looking into each transaction in order to find out whether a completed contract of sale had taken place which could be brought to tax only if the movement of vehicles from Jamshedpur had been occasioned under a covenant or incident of that contract the Assistant Commissioner based his order on mere generalities. It has been suggested that all the transactions were of similar nature and the appellant's representative had himself submitted that a specimen transaction alone n ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... upreme Court, would be a party to any dubious method of tax evasion. Apart from this, there is no evidence cited by the learned Assistant Sales Tax Officer in support of his conclusion. What he examined was only the contract between the petitioners and M/s. Maruti Udyog Limited under which normally the vehicle is sold by the selling agent to the customer at Delhi. On examining some documents of the petitioners, the learned Assistant Sales Tax Officer found that there was large scale deviations from the terms of the contract. Since the sales tax authority had not made any enquiry from Maruti Udyog Limited in regard to the deviations, the sales tax authority rushed to the conclusion that the sales were being shown to have been made at Gurgaon ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... itioners. From the averments made in the petitions and the counter-affidavit of the Maruti Udyog Limited some salient facts regarding the transactions in question emerge. After the public announcement by Maruti Udyog Limited, Maruti cars were booked during April, 1983 to June, 1983 with Maruti Udyog Limited. Initially booking was made by the customers direct with Maruti Udyog Limited on payment of Rs. 10,000 per vehicle by a demand draft payable to Maruti Udyog Limited at Gurgaon. At the time of the said direct booking neither Ganga Motors nor Competent Motors were appointed even as dealers. They were appointed dealers subsequently on 20th December, 1983 and 2nd November, 1983 respectively. The booking was so heavy and as Maruti Udyog Lim ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ayment of Rs. 10,000 allotment card sent by Maruti Udyog Limited to the customers and proof of the Delhi residence of the customers should be sent to the Ganga Automobiles at the earliest "to enable us to effect the delivery of your vehicle on your turn". The second document gives the details of transit insurance from Gurgaon to Delhi, collection charges, transportation and temporary registration including octroi. The letter informs "the title of vehicle passes on to you as soon as the vehicle crosses the excise gate at the works of Maruti Udyog Limited, Gurgaon, and henceforth all risks are on your account". The third is an authorisation letter by the customer to Ganga Automobiles making certain payments by draft for being forwarded to Mar ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the entire matter by giving opportunity to the petitioners to produce such evidence as they deem fit in regard to each transaction of sale of the vehicle. The authority shall then independently apply its mind to the material evidence in each transaction separately and pass the appropriate assessment order. It was argued by the Solicitor-General on behalf of the respondents that the writ petitions were not maintainable since the alternative remedy is available to the petitioners under the statute, namely, Delhi Sales Tax Act. We do not think we can accept this preliminary objection after the writ petitions have been admitted more than three years back and pending disposal before this Court. So, also the impugned demand notice contained such ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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