MITHILA MOTORS P LTD Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All the writ petitions filed by the common petitioner involves common point of law and in all the cases the revisional order passed by the Bihar Commercial Taxes Tribunal is common, thereby they have been heard together and disposed of by this common order.

(2.) The petitioner is a private Limited Company having its Registered Office at Jamshedpur and Branch Offices at different places in the State of Bihar. By these writ petitions, the petitioner has challenged the orders passed by the Respondents imposing penalties under Section 25 (3) of the Bihar Finance Act, 1981 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and/or penalties imposed by the Respondent* under Section 16(9) of the Act, the appellate orders confirming the penalties and the order passed by the Chairman of the Commercial Taxes Tribunal, Bihar, Patna in the Revision application.

(3.) The petitioner has not only challenged the order imposing penalties for payment of Sales tax "Surcharge" in time and the revisional order confirming the same, on the basis of the merit of each case, but also has challenged the validity of Rule 33(8) (a) of the Bihar Sales Tax Rules, 1983 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules), the proviso to which empowers the decision of the Chairman as final, in case there is a difference of opinion that of the Chairman with another member of the Tribunal and when the post of third Member is vacant.