Union of India & Ors. Vs Siddhi Vinayak Syntex Pvt. Ltd (Supreme Court of India)
Supreme Court of India has dismissed a special leave petition filed by the Union of India and others against Siddhi Vinayak Syntex Pvt. Ltd., upholding the principle that appeals by the tax department should not be pursued below a prescribed monetary threshold. The decision came in a case where the tax demand against the respondent company was less than the limit set by a departmental circular, despite the case involving a challenge to a circular concerning the “call-book” regime.
The special leave petition (SLP(C) No. 18214/2017) was filed by the Department against a judgment of the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad dated March 7, 2017. The High Court had sided with Siddhi Vinayak Syntex regarding the “inappropriateness” of a direction issued in a departmental circular mandating a specific procedure, known as the “call-book” regime.
The “call-book” mechanism is an administrative tool used by tax departments to keep certain cases pending for various reasons, often awaiting clarification on legal issues, outcomes of other cases, or receipt of necessary information. The High Court’s observation on the inappropriateness of the circular’s direction implied that the court found the departmental instructions on keeping cases in the call-book to be legally questionable or unfairly applied to the assessee’s situation.
