HUGHES COMMUNICATIONS INDIA LTD Vs. COMMISSIONER COMMERCIAL TAX

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD Sri Rishi Raj Kapoor, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri B.K. Pandey, learned counsel for the respondents. The controversy involved in all these revisions relates to levy of penalty under section 15A(1)(a) of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") for delayed deposit of trade tax/Central sales tax in the month of May, 2003, August, 2003 and February, 2004.

(2.) THESE revisions are admitted on the following question of law:

(3.) IT is submitted by Sri Kapoor that the cheque/pay order/bank draft was deposited by the applicant along with the challan form for the relevant month well in time in the State Bank of India ("the SBI", for short) and it was merely because of time taken in collection of the amount by the SBI that the alleged delay was caused which is not, in fact, the delay as the payment collected will relate back to the date of receipt of cheque as held by the honourable Supreme Court in the case of Commissioner of Income -tax v. Oagle Glass Works Ltd. : [1954] 25 TTR 529 (SC) : [1954] 24 Comp Cas. 520 (SC) : ATR 1954 SC 429. He further submits that the Tribunal and the authorities below have committed manifest error of law and facts to hold the penalty to be levied upon the applicant and submits that the delay was only for two or three days which was merely because of the period exhausted by the bank in collecting the amount and in some months it was because of holidays in the intervening period. He submits that firstly there was no delay at all and secondly even if it is assumed for a moment that there was delay of one or two days, the same was sufficiently explained and, therefore, the penalty under section 15A(1)(a) of the Act should not have been levied in view of the law laid down by this court in the Case of Western India Match Co. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Sales Tax : [1990] 76 STC 421 (All.) : [1989] UPTC 1074, Eastern India Transformer & Switch Gear Pvt. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Sales Tax, [1993] UPTC 212, Triveni Sheets Glass Works v. Commissioner of Trade Tax, [1999] NTN 42 and Premier Vinyl Flooring Ltd., Sikandrabad, Bulandshahr v. Commissioner of Sales Tax : [2004] 137 STC 366 (All.) : [2004] UPTC 468.