Raja Charity Trust vs State of Karnataka and Another

This petition by Messrs. Raja Charity Trust, which is the sole selling agent of Messrs. Southern Asbestos Cement Limited, is directed against the preposition notice issued in ac- cordance with Section 12(3) of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as ''the Act'') and the Rules framed thereunder. The notice is produced at Annexure-E.

The first respondent-Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Assessment) I Circle, Bangalore, has declined to accept the annual returns filed by the petitioner for the year 1980-81 and has proposed to make a best judgment assessment of the total and the taxable turnovers of Rs. 4,27,77,188.30 and Rs. 3,27,66,549.46 respectively. However, there is also intimation to the petitioner which is a registered dealer that the concessional rate of tax claimed by the assessee under the Notification No. FD 142 CSL 79 dated 27-12-1979 will not be allowed as the petitioner is rot entitled to as an agent.

It is contended for the petitioner that in the light of the decision rendered by this Court in the case of Bagalkot Udyog Ltd. v. State of Karnataka, 43 STC 352, the benefit is available to agents also and therefore the proposition is without the authority of law of erroneous understanding of the law, apparently following the advice tendered by the Finance Department to the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes in Karnataka.

In my opinion, time has not come for this Court to interfere with the proposition notices.

The petition is premature. The impugned notice is merely a proposal which can be answered by the assessee dealer (petitioner). If the dealer is already armed with a decided case in support of its contentions to be advanced before the 2nd respondent, it should do so. As the 2nd respondent while exercising the powers under Section 12(3) of the Act, acts as a quasi judicial authority, he is not bound by any legal opinion given from whatever quarter, unless such opinion be the result of a concluded decision of this High Court or the Supreme Court of India.

For the reason I have given, this petition is premature and, therefore, it is rejected subject to the above observation.

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