RAJ PHOTO STUDIO Vs. SALES TAX OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Disallowance of claim of deduction under Section 4(2)(V) of Delhi Sales TaxAct, 1975 ( in short 'the Act') in respect of sales to registered dealers as made by theSales Tax Officer, Ward 61, Bikri Bhawan, New Delhi, hereinafter referred to as theassessing officer, is the subject matter of challenge in this Writ Petition.

(2.) A brief reference to the factual aspects would suffice. Petitioner, a dealerregistered under the)Act, claimed deduction in respect of sales stated to have beenmade to registered dealers. Fifty four declaration forms in Form ST-1 were furnishedin support of the claim. Assessing officer rejected the claim on the ground that thepurchasing dealers who had issued those forms had indicated different figures inrespect of the transactions covered by the forms. On the aforesaid ground, theassessment for the year 1983-84 was completed raising extra demand of Rs.10,60,185.00 additionally which is required to be dealt with under Section 50 of theAct. Petitioner submitted its reply and took a stand that the claim was in order. Aprayer was made to summon the concerned purchasing dealers under Section 42 forthe purpose of verification of the Act. Since no action was taken on the request andthe extra demand was raised, the present Writ Petition has been filed.

(3.) Petitioner has taken the stand that non-issuance of summons to the concernedparties amounted to violation of the principles of natural justice and a fair opportunityhas been denied. Learned counsel for the Revenue, on the other hand, submitted thatrecords of purchasing dealers were verified in detail and since the figures reflected inthe documents available with the assessing officer were different than those reflectedby the Petitioner, disallowance has been rightly made. According to him there was nodenial of opportunity and/or violation of principles of natural justice.