Tvl. Perambalur Sugar Mills Limited Vs Tamilnadu Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal (Madras High Court)
The Madras High Court considered a writ appeal challenging the dismissal of a writ petition that had questioned an order passed in a miscellaneous petition by the Tamil Nadu Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal. The dispute arose from an assessment under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 for the assessment year 1995–96.
The original assessment was completed on 30.03.1999. The Department filed an appeal before the Tribunal in 2002. That appeal remained pending for more than 13 years, moving across different benches of the Tribunal, and was ultimately allowed ex parte on 18.08.2015. The assessee thereafter filed a Miscellaneous Petition within the prescribed limitation under the Tribunal Regulations. This petition was dismissed on 12.05.2017. However, the dismissal order was admittedly served on the assessee only on 01.12.2020.
Following service of the order, the assessee filed a writ petition on 31.03.2021. That writ petition was returned by the Registry on 19.04.2021 for rectification of defects. According to the assessee, further steps could not be taken due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, closure of the counsel’s office, and flooding of the counsel’s chamber during civil works, which destroyed the bundles including the returned writ papers. It was also stated that due to passage of time and administrative workload, the matter was not followed up until recovery proceedings were initiated by the authorities in June 2025.
