JAISWAL SOAP FACTORY Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE three writ petitions are by one assessee, namely, Jaiswal Soap Factory. Save and except that the assessment orders refer to a different period, the issues in all these three writ petitions are identical and, therefore, these three writ petitions have been taken up together for consideration.

(2.) AT the outset, we wanted to know from the Counsel for the petitioner as to whether the statutory remedy against the impugned assessment orders is available to the petitioner under the Bihar Value Added Tax Act, 2005 (for short, "the Act, 2005") or not, and if it is so, why should not the petitioner be relegated to the statutory remedy.

(3.) ACCORDING to him, by the impugned orders unwarranted tax liability has been fastened on the petitioner coupled with imposition of penalty and the petitioner is not in position to deposit 25 per cent of the assessed tax liability and the penalty amount. Counsel relied upon A.V. Venkateswaran, Collector of Customs, Bombay v. Ramchand Sobhraj Wadhwani : AIR 1961 SC 1506, M.G. Abrol, Additional Collector of Customs, Bombay v. Shantilal Chhotelal & Co. : AIR 1966 SC 197 and Filterco v. Commissioner of Sales Tax, M.P. : [1986] 61 STC 318 (SC) : AIR 1986 SC 626.