RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LTD Vs. ASSESSING AUTHORITY JAGATSINGHPUR CIRCLE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner herein, Reliance Industries Ltd.- Operator, has filed these two writ petitions under articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India questioning the legality and validity of the orders of assessment passed by the assessing authority, Jagatsinghpur Circle, Paradeep, O. P. No. 1, under section 7 (4) of the Orissa Entry Tax Act, 1999 (hereinafter referred to as "the OET Act") and rule 10 (2) of the Orissa Entry Tax Rules, 1999 (hereinafter called "the OET Rules") for the years 2003-04 and 2004-05, respectively as well as the demand notices, vide annexure 1. As the facts and the points of law involved in both the writ petitions are common, they were heard together and are being disposed of by this common judgment.

(2.) THE petitioner has registered itself as a dealer under O. P. No. 1 - Assessing Authority, Jagatsinghpur, and has been assessed to Orissa entry tax under section 7 (4) of the OET Act and rule 10 (2) of the OET Rules and demands have been raised to the tune of Rs. 1,79,62,793 and Rs. 1,02,33,947 for the assessment years 2003-04 and 2004-05, respectively and the petitioner has been directed to deposit the aforesaid tax. The grievance of the petitioner is that during the course of assessment the claim of the petitioner for deduction on the value of the scheduled goods brought to the State for exploration work has been rejected and entry tax has been levied by the assessing authority.

(3.) THE petitioner challenges the assessment orders mainly on the ground that under section 6 (6) read with section 7 (7) of the Maritime Zones Act, the Union of India has been vested with the power and authority to extend the application of certain enactments in force in India to the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone by way of notification. In the absence of such a notification, the claim of the opposite parties that the location of the rig is a part of local area is clearly illegal, invalid and not sustainable in law. In this regard our attention was drawn by the learned counsel for the petitioner to sub-section (6) of section 6 of the Maritime Zones Act, which has vested the Central Government with the power to extend the application of any enactment which is for the time being in force in India or any part thereof to the continental shelf or any part thereof including any designated area under sub-section (5) thereof. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, it is an undisputed fact that the Central Government has not extended the application of the OET Act or Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947 or Orissa Value Added Tax Act, 2004 or even the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 to the continental shelf. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, the orders of assessment are bad and are liable to be set aside.