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Judgment
The challenge in the writ petition is to an order dated 26th October, 2022 passed by the Additional Commissioner of Sales Tax (ACST), Territorial Range, Jaipur, Jajpur Road in Revision Case No.JR-430(R) 2022-23.
The aforementioned order was passed pursuant to a Suo Motu order dated 11/18th January, 2022 passed by the Commissioner of Sales Tax, Orissa (Opposite Party No.3) whereby an earlier order dated 24th June, 2021 passed by the ACST in JR/409(R) 2020-21 was ‘set aside’. By the said order dated 24th June, 2021 the Additional Commissioner had ordered that the effective date of registration under the CST Act would be 23rd February, 2019 and not the date of application, i.e., 4th March, 2020 granted by the Sales Tax officer, Keonjhar Circle, Keonjhar.
The fact of the matter is that against the order dated 11/18th January, 2022 of the Commissioner of Sales Tax, the Petitioner has already filed W.P.(C) No.23088 of 2022 which is pending before this Court.
The short ground on which the impugned order of the Additional Commissioner is challenged is that there was no occasion for the Additional Commissioner to take up the matter once again when the earlier order passed by him had already been ‘set aside’ by the Commissioner.
The above proposition is unable to be disputed by learned Additional Standing Counsel for the State. A perusal of the order dated 11/18th January, 2022 of the Commissioner clearly indicates that the earlier order dated 24th June, 2021 of the ACST has been ‘set aside’ without any further direction that the matter would be remanded to the Additional Commissioner for passing a fresh order. In the absence of such a direction, the Additional Commissioner could not have again taken up the matter and passed the impugned order dated 26th October, 2022.
On that short ground, the impugned order dated 26th October, 2022 passed by the ACST is hereby set aside.
This order will not in any event, affect the decision to be taken in the pending writ petition, i.e., W.P.(C) No.23088 of 2022.
The writ petition is accordingly allowed in the above terms.
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