FINOLEX INDUSTRIES LIMITED Vs. COMMISSIONER OF SALES TAX

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Appellant Company has filed the present Appeal assailing the concurrent findings of the Maharashtra Sales Tax Tribunal and the Commissioner of Sales Tax, Pune Division. The present Appeal raised substantial questions of law and we deem it fit to admit the same on the following questions of law.

(2.) The Appellant is a Company incorporated under the provisions of Companies Act and is having its registered office in Pune. The appellant Company is engaged in the manufacturing of PVC Plastic Pipes, Pipe fittings and other allied products. The said factory is situated at Urse and is functional since 1980. In or around 1994, the appellant company set up another factory in Village Ranpar, Post Gholap, District Ratnagiri for manufacturing PVC Resins. The appellant is duly registered under the provisions of Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 (for short "MVAT Act, 2002) and the Central Sales Tax Act, 1966 for both the places of business separately. The dispute raised in the First and Second Appeals as well as the Appeal presented before this Court revolves around the Package Scheme of Incentives floated by the State Government and the benefits flowing from the said scheme.

(3.) The Appellant Company, in the year 1994, has made a fixed capital investment of Rs. 329.5 crore, thereby creating a new manufacturing factory in Ratnagiri (hereinafter referred to as "Ratnagiri Factory") for manufacturing of PVC Resins and also PVC Pipes. The said factory claimed the benefits of the Package Scheme of Incentives which was prevailing at the relevant time, known as PSI - 1988 and an eligibility certificate under Part I of the 1988 Scheme was granted to the appellant by SICOM qua its Ratnagiri unit. By virtue of the said eligibility certificate, the appellant was held eligible for maximum entitlement of sales tax incentives of Rs. 313,03,07,000/- by way of exemption. The said eligibility certificate was valid for a period of 10 years from 4th April 1994 to 30th April 1994. On the basis of the said eligibility certificate, the Sales Tax Department also issued an entitlement certificate on 25th April 1994 to the appellant and both the certificates mentioned the production capacity as 1,30,000 metric tonnes.