BHARAT INDUSTRIES Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY this reference under section 61 (1) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, the Maharashtra sales Tax Tribunal has referred the following question of law to this Court for opinion at the instance of the assessee :

(2.) AS is obvious from the above question, the sole controversy in this case pertains to the right of the assessee to amend the memorandum of appeal by furnishing the grounds of appeal and/or the right of the appellate authority to summarily reject an appeal under rule 60 (1) of the Bombay sales Tax Rules, 1959 ("the Rules"), for the failure of the appellant to set out the grounds of appeal in the memorandum of appeal filed under section 55 of the Act. The facts giving rise to this controversy may be briefly stated thus : the assessee filed an appeal under section 55 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959 ("the Act"), before the Deputy Commissioner of Sales Tax (Appeal-Mofussil), Nagpur ("the Deputy commissioner") on April 4, 1989, against a revisional order passed by the Assistant commissioner of Sales Tax (Admn.), Nasik Division, Range II, Dhule, under section 57 of the act. The Deputy Commissioner issued a notice to the assessee on July 11, 1989, wherein it was pointed out that the memorandum of appeal filed by him was incomplete in the following respects :

(3.) WE have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the relevant provisions of the act and the Rules dealing with appeals. Section 55 of the Act provides for an appeal from every original order passed under the Act by the Assistant Commissioner to the Deputy Commissioner. Sub-section (1) thereof reads :