AZAHARUDDIN AHMED Vs. TNT BOARD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition for Leave to Appeal at the instance of the petitioner is directed against the judgment and order dated 07.07.2004 passed by the High Court Division in Writ petition No. 3601 of 1996 discharging the Rule with a cost of Tk. 5,000.00.

(2.) The petitioner is a subscriber of telephone provided by respondent No.1, Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB). The only grievance agitated by the petitioner in this writ petition is that BTTB being registered under Section 15 of the VAT Act, 1991 as VAT payee, cannot collect VAT from its subscribers and, if VAT is at all payable, it is payable by the service provider, i.e. BTTB itself, pursuant to the provisions of the VAT Act, 1991.

(3.) BTTB filing an affidavit-in-opposition contested that it collects VAT from its subscriber @ pursuant to the provisions of the Act. Since BTTB is a VAT payee, being registered under Section 15 of the Act, a duty is cast upon them to collect VAT at the prescribed rate from its subscribers and deposit the same in due course to the VAT authority and, as such, they are merely acting as the collecting agent of the Government.