OKEY TEXTILES Vs. COMMISSIONER OF COMMERCIAL TAXES

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE prayer in the writ petition is as follows: to issue a writ of certiorarified mandamus calling for the records of the first respondent in Letter No. M3/1633/2007, quash the order dated February 7, 2007 and consequently direct the first respondent to admit the petition filed by the petitioner before him under Section 16D of the TNGST Act.

(2.) IT is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner was the assessee under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 and the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. For the assessment year 1996 -97, the petitioner claimed exemption on the entire sales pertaining to export of hosiery garments. However, the second respondent after checking up the accounts, culled out certain values from the books of account for the sales of quota, industrial salt and carton boxes and assessed the same to tax, besides levying penalty by his assessment order dated March 15, 2002 without issuing any pre -assessment notice inviting objections to such enhancement. Such an order passed without following the mandatory provisions of issuance of pre -assessment notice as required under Section 12(2) and 12(3) of the TNGST Act. On that ground, invoking the power under Section 16D of the TNGST Act, the petitioner filed an application on January 9, 2007 before the Special Committee constituted under Section 16D of the TNGST Act for passing appropriate orders and particularly for a direction to the assessing authority to make fresh assessment to pass fresh proceedings. That application has been rejected by the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes who is one of the committee members on the premise that as per Section 88 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006, the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 has been repealed with effect from January 1, 2007. Hence the application filed by the petitioner under Section 16D of the repealed Act cannot be entertained after January 1,2007. The correctness of the said order is put in issue in this writ petition by contending that Section 88 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act saved certain action taken under the provisions of the TNGST Act, the petitioner's accrued interest and vested right cannot be divested by the repealed Act. The Repealed Act also categorically saves the rights of the petitioner under the TNGST Act.