TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2014 (3) TMI 547
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....sion of appeals) is the moot question that arises for consideration in these writ petitions at the instance of a petroleum dealer at Puducherry. The facts: 2. The petitioner is an assessee on the file of Additional Deputy Commercial Tax Officer II, Puducherry. The matter relates to the assessment years 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010. The Assessing Officer issued notices to the petitioner proposing to pass orders of assessment. Since the proprietor was not keeping well, objections were not submitted within the prescribed period. The assessing authority thereafter passed separate assessment orders. The petitioner filed statutory appeals challenging the assessment orders after the expiry of the period of limitation. Si....
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....within the prescribed period before the Commercial Tax Department. The Commercial Tax Officer after the expiry of the period indicated in the notices, completed the assessment. 6. The petitioner filed statutory appeals before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, Puducherry. The following table would give the details regarding assessment orders, the related appeals and initiation of writ proceedings. Year Assessment order Date of filing of appeal Date on which the appeal was returned Date of filing of writ petition 2006-2007 5208 17/11/2009 20/01/2010 91012 2007-2008 10609 17/11/2009 20/01/2010 91012 2007-2008 15/09/2009 17/11/2009 20/01/2010 91012 2008-2009 41109 26/03/2010 26/03/2010 91012 2009-2010 121010 16/....
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....is made the appellate authority to return the appeals. It is a matter of record that the writ petitions were filed only on 9 October 2012 which would be about two to four years after passing the assessment orders in question. 10. The petitioner now wanted this Court to convert it as a forum to condone the delay. In case the appellate authority is not having the power to condone the delay after sixty days, the writ Court would not be justified in giving further extension. Writ proceedings are not for the purpose of granting extension of time. 11. The law of limitation fixes the life span for legal remedy. It is founded on public policy. The right of appeal is nothing but a statutory right. The said right can be regulated by imposing approp....
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....ing the period of limitation. 13. It is trite law that in case the statute prescribed the maximum period of limitation for filing appeal, and a further time, on production of proof regarding sufficient cause for the delay, Section 5 of the Limitation Act would not come to the rescue to extend the period of limitation. 14. This Court would have considered the larger issues raised by the petitioner including imposition of penalty at 150%, in case the writ petitions were filed before the statutory period prescribed for filing the appeal. The petitioner, by filing the writ petitions, two and in some cases four years after the outer time limit prescribed by the statute for filing appeal, lost the chance to consider the matter on merits. The S....
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....s. It was primarily on the ground of delay that the Appellate Assistant Commissioner has returned the appeals. The petitioner should have challenged the proceedings returning the appeals in case the appeals were returned without any valid reason. The petitioner waited for about two years and in some cases four years even to file writ petitions after the return of appeal memorandums by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. Since the statute impliedly excluded the provisions of Section 5 of the Limitation Act, in filing an appeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, the writ court would not be justified in entertaining the writ petition after the statutory period. 17. It is true that there is no fixed period of limitation for initiat....