Gujarat High Court

Planet Automotive Pvt. Ltd vs State Of Gujarat on 1 September, 2023

Bench: Bhargav D. Karia

                                                                                  NEUTRAL CITATION




     C/SCA/19475/2022                           JUDGMENT DATED: 01/09/2023

                                                                                  undefined




             IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD

               R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 19475 of 2022


FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:


HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BIREN VAISHNAV
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BHARGAV D. KARIA
==========================================================

1     Whether Reporters of Local Papers may be allowed
      to see the judgment ?

2     To be referred to the Reporter or not ?

3     Whether their Lordships wish to see the fair copy
      of the judgment ?

4     Whether this case involves a substantial question
      of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution
      of India or any order made thereunder ?

==========================================================
                        PLANET AUTOMOTIVE PVT. LTD.
                                   Versus
                             STATE OF GUJARAT
==========================================================
Appearance:
UCHIT N SHETH(7336) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1,2
for the Respondent(s) No. 1
GOVERNMENT PLEADER for the Respondent(s) No. 1,2,3
==========================================================

    CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BIREN VAISHNAV
          and
          HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BHARGAV D. KARIA

                          Date : 01/09/2023
                          ORAL JUDGMENT

(PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BHARGAV D. KARIA)

1. Heard learned advocate Mr. Uchit Sheth for

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/SCA/19475/2022 JUDGMENT DATED: 01/09/2023

undefined

the petitioners and learned Assistant

Government Pleader Ms. Shrunal Shah for

the respondent.

2. Rule returnable forthwith. Learned AGP

Ms. Shah waives service of notice of rule.

3. Having regard to the controversy narrated

in narrow compass, with the consent of the

learned advocates of both the sides, the

matter is taken-up for hearing.

4. By this petition under Article 226 of the

Constitution of India, the petitioner has

prayed for the following reliefs:

"A. This Hon'ble Court may be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus or writ in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ or order quashing and setting aside impugned letter dated 20.7.2022 (Annexed at Annexure A)and the Respondents may please be directed to grant benefit

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/SCA/19475/2022 JUDGMENT DATED: 01/09/2023

undefined

of Vera Samadhan Yojana-2019.

B. This Hon'ble Court may be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus or writ in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ or order quashing and setting aside impugned garnishee notice dated 09.09.2022 (Annexed At Annexure B);

C. This Hon'ble Court may be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus or writ in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ or order quashing and setting aside the demand notice for the year 2017-18 (annexed at Annexure H);

D. Pending notice admission and final hearing of this petition, this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to stay the operation, execution and implementation of the impugned garnishee notice dated 9.9.2022 (annexued at Annexure B) and the petitioners may please be permitted to operate their bank account;

E. Ex parte ad interim relief in terms of prayer D may kindly be granted;

F. Such further relief(s) as deemed fit in the facts and circumstances of the case may kindly be granted in the interest of justice for which act of

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/SCA/19475/2022 JUDGMENT DATED: 01/09/2023

undefined

kindness your petitioners shall forever pray."

5. Facts in nutshell are as under:

The petitioner is a Private Limited

Company and distributor of Hyundai Car.

The petitioner No.1 is registered under

the VAT Act as well as Central Sales Tax

Act now under the Goods and Service Tax

Act ['GST Act' for short].

5.1 For the period from 01.06.2017 to

30.06.2017, the petitioner paid the total

tax of Rs. 32,20,901/- under the Entry Tax

Act. It is the case of the petitioner that

after filing of the return, it was noticed

that there was an error in tax computation

which has resulted into short payment of

tax.

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/SCA/19475/2022 JUDGMENT DATED: 01/09/2023

undefined

5.2 Respondent No.1-State of Gujarat

announced an amnesty Scheme named as "Vera

Samadhan Yojana-2019" for settlement of

the disputes under different tax laws

including the Entry Tax Act. The said

Scheme was substituted by resolution dated

06.12.2019.

5.3 As per the amended Scheme, on

payment of principal tax amount, waiver of

interest and penalty was admissible. The

petitioner was accordingly entitled to

credit of tax already paid prior to the

Scheme. The said Scheme was extended from

time-to-time and ultimately, expired on

31.08.2021.

5.4 The petitioner availed the benefit

of the Scheme and filed an application for

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/SCA/19475/2022 JUDGMENT DATED: 01/09/2023

undefined

the period from 01.06.2017 to 30.06.2017

stating that the total tax liability for

the month was Rs. 1,80,75,735/- and the

petitioner paid amount of Rs. 32,20,901/-

towards tax. The petitioner has also

submitted the challans showing the payment

of tax.

5.5 Upon filing of the application

under the said Scheme, the petitioner

received an online intimation regarding

the amount payable by the petitioner to

avail the benefit of the Scheme.

5.6 The petitioner, on receipt of such

intimation, noticed that there was error

in the intimation requiring the petitioner

to pay the amount in excess of what is

actually to be paid by the petitioner. The

petitioner therefore approached respondent

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/SCA/19475/2022 JUDGMENT DATED: 01/09/2023

undefined

No.3-the Jurisdictional Officer and

pointed out an error in the letter. The

Officer corrected the amount mentioned in

the letter manually and the amount was

reduced to Rs. 1,48,54,834/- from Rs.

1,80,75,735/-.

5.7 The petitioner therefore, paid the

said amount in installments from

13.03.2020 onwards till 31.01.2021.

5.8 During the pendency of the amnesty

scheme, the petitioner No.1 was also

assessed to tax and the liability under

the Entry Tax Act and VAT Act was

determined after giving the credit of tax

already paid by the petitioner in the

assessment order.

5.9 The fact that the petitioner

applied for the amnesty scheme was also

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/SCA/19475/2022 JUDGMENT DATED: 01/09/2023

undefined

recorded in the assessment order.

Considering the assessment order as a

base, the petitioner paid further amount

of Rs. 1,31,641/- as determined by the

assessment order after the set off of the

amount already paid by the petitioner

under the amnesty scheme. Thus, according

to the petitioner, the petitioner has paid

the dues as determined by the assessment

order passed on 31.12.2020 for the period

from 01.04.2017 to 30.06.2017.

5.10 However, the respondent No.3, by

impugned letter dated 20.07.2022, rejected

the application of the petitioner under

the 'Vera Samadhan Yojana-2019' on the

ground that the petitioner did not pay

full payment against the outstanding

amount intimated to the petitioner vide

intimation letter generated online.

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/SCA/19475/2022 JUDGMENT DATED: 01/09/2023

undefined

Being aggrieved, the petitioner has filed

this petition.

6. Learned advocate Mr. Sheth for the

petitioner submitted that the petitioner

has paid the entire outstanding amount as

corrected by the respondent No.3 on the

intimation letter on being pointed out the

error in the said letter within the

stipulated time before 31.08.2021. It was

also submitted that the petitioner

deposited further sum of Rs. 1,31,641/-

which was left outstanding as per the

assessment order passed on 31.12.2020. It

was therefore, pointed out that the

petitioner has discharged the entire

liability within the stipulated time to

avail the benefit of the Vera Samadhan

Yojana-2019 and hence, the petitioner is

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/SCA/19475/2022 JUDGMENT DATED: 01/09/2023

undefined

entitled to get the waiver of interest and

penalty leviable upon the petitioner for

short payment of the entry tax as per the

Scheme.

7. On the other hand, learned AGP Ms. Shah

for the respondent submitted that the

respondent No.3 had no authority to

correct the intimation letter by reducing

the amount of payment from Rs.

1,80,75,735/- to Rs.1,48,54,834/-. The

petitioner was liable to pay Rs.

1,80,75,735/- but the petitioner has not

made the payment as per the intimation

letter and therefore by the impugned

communication dated 20.07.2022, the

respondent has rightly disposed of the

application made by the petitioner under

the Vera Samadhan Yojna-2019.

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/SCA/19475/2022 JUDGMENT DATED: 01/09/2023

undefined

8. It was further submitted that the amount

paid by the petitioner is admittedly not

as per the intimation letter. Reliance was

placed on the relevant clauses of the

amnesty scheme which is produced by the

petitioner at page 28 of the paper book to

submit that the petitioner was required to

pay 10% of the amount on or before

31.07.2020 and the remaining amount with

interest @ 1.5% per annum before

31.08.2021. It was submitted that the

petitioner had admittedly not paid the

amount of Rs. 1,80,75,735/- as per the

intimation letter generated online and

accordingly the petitioner is not entitled

to the benefit of the Vera Samadhan Yojna-

2019.

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/SCA/19475/2022 JUDGMENT DATED: 01/09/2023

undefined

9. Having heard learned advocates for the

respective parties hand considering the

material on record it is not in dispute

that the petitioner has paid the entire

amount of the outstanding dues as per the

corrected intimation and assessment order

prior to the date prescribed under the

Vera Samadhan Yojna-2019 i.e. 31.08.2021.

The petitioner has paid the following

amount on various dates amounting to Rs.

1,48,54,833/-.

Planet Automotive Pvt Ltd Entry Tax Month Paid Date Installment Paid Amount March'20 13/03/2020 1485483 1510674 April'20 31/07/2020 1215396 1266712 May'20 09-01-2020 1215396 1264149 June'20 28/09/2020 1215396 1240658 July'20 13/10/2020 1215396 1248776 Aug'20 11-10-2020 1215396 1273644 Sept'20 12-08-2020 1215396 1230201 Oct'20 01-02-2021 1215396 1282539 Nov'20 20/01/2021 1215396 1236028 Dec'20 30/01/2021 1215396 1250213 Jan'21 30/01/2021 1215396 1257389

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/SCA/19475/2022 JUDGMENT DATED: 01/09/2023

undefined

Feb'21 31/01/2021 1215396 793850 14854839 14854833

10. The petitioner has also deposited

Rs. 1,31,643/- on 5th March,2021 after the

assessment order was passed on 31.12.2020.

Thus, the petitioner has deposited the

entire amount as per the assessment order.

Merely because, the intimation generated

online has erroneously stated the amount

which was not correct, the petitioner was