Case Law Details
A S L Enterprises Ltd. Vs The Senior Joint Commissioner, Sales Tax (Calcutta High Court)
Whether proviso to Section 84(1) of the West Bengal VAT Act, 2003 which provides for mandatory pre-deposit of 15% is ultra vires and it effects the vested rights of the appellant and also it is discriminatory in nature as it holds liable for payment all kinds of assessee to pay blanket 15%?
High Court Held That –
1. Insisting the dealer to produce the proof of payment of 15% of the disputed tax in terms of the second proviso to Section 84(1) does not infringe/ abrogate the vested right of appeal under Section 84(1) of the Act and such proviso does not amount to compulsory extraction of tax as it is a procedural law, prescribing a procedure for the purpose of entertaining an appeal.
2. The second proviso to Section 84(1) of the Act does not infringe Article 14 of the Constitution as the substantive law namely, Section 84(1) of the Act does not provide for any categories of dealers or categories of assessments except two categories namely, provisional assessments and other assessments and the two categories in the dealers as casual dealer or any other dealer. Therefore, all categories of dealers have been brought under a single umbrella and they have been given right to file appeal against either a provisional assessment or other assessment. Thus, the attempt of the appellant to draw an artificial classification among the dealers is impermissible.
Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.
