Deepak Narendran vs. The Deputy Commissioner - Kerala High Court, 02 September 2021

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BECHU KURIAN THOMAS THUR AY, THE 2ND DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2021 / 11TH BHADRA, 1943 WP(C) NO. 17634 OF 2021 PETITIONER : DEEPAK NARENDRAN, AGED 49 YEARS, PROPRIETOR, M/S. NARENDRA REGENCY, PUNALUR, KOLLAM DISTRICT. BY ADVS. HARISANKAR V. MENON MEERA V.MENON RESPONDENTS : 1 THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER , (FORMERLY ASST. COMMISSIONER), SPECIAL CIRCLE, STATE GST DEPARTMENT, PUNALUR 691 305. 2 THE SECRETARY, KERALA GENERAL SALES TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL, ADDL. BENCH, SASTHAMANGALAM, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - 695 010. BY DR.THUSHARA JAMES, SENIOR GOVT.PLEADER THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 02.09.2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

WP(C) NO. 17634 OF 2021 2 BECHU KURIAN THOMAS, J. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= W.P.(C).No.17634 of 2021 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Dated this the 2nd day of September, 2021

JUDGMENT The petitioner is an assessee to sales tax on the rolls of the first respondent. For the assessment year 2015-16, the assessment was completed under Section 17(3) of the KGST Act and a demand of Rs.5,83,727/- was raised against the petitioner as balance tax and a further amount of Rs.2,04,305/- as interest.

Challenging the aforesaid assessment order, petitioner preferred an appeal to the Deputy Commissioner (Appeals) which also ended up adverse to the assessee. Against the said order of the First Appellate Authority, petitioner has preferred an appeal as Ext.P3 to the Kerala Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal, Thiruvananthapuram. A stay petition has also been preferred as Ext.P3(b) along with the appeal. According to the petitioner, in spite of the lapse of 2 years, the appeal as well as the stay petition has not been considered and unless a direction is issued to the Tribunal to consider the stay petition, the petitioner will be put to irreparable loss and hardships.

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Having regard to the circumstances arising in the case, I am of the view that the stay petition pending consideration before the Appellate Tribunal is liable to be considered in a time bound manner. Accordingly, there will be a direction to the Kerala Value Added Tax Appellate Tribunal to consider the stay petition filed by the petitioner and produced as Ext.P3(b) filed along with Ext.P3 appeal within a period of three months from the date of receipt of receipt of a copy of this judgment. All further proceedings pursuant to Ext.P6 arrear notice shall be kept in abeyance for a period of three months or until the order, as directed above, is passed whichever is earlier. BECHU KURIAN THOMAS, JUDGE RKM

WP(C) NO. 17634 OF 2021 4 APPENDIX OF WP(C) 17634/2021 PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS : Exhibit P1 COPY OF ORDER ISSUED BY THE FIRST RESPONDENT FOR THE YEAR 2015-2016 DTD. 28.02.2019. Exhibit P2 COPY OF ORDER ORDER ISSUED BY THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER (APPEALS), KOLLAM DTD. 09.10.2019 Exhibit P3 COPY OF APPEAL FILED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE 2ND RESPONDENT DTD. 23.12.2020. Exhibit P3(A) COPY OF DELAY PETITION FILED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE 2ND RESPONDENT DTD. 23.12.2020. Exhibit P3(B) COPY OF STAY PETITION FILED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE 2ND RESPONDENT DT. 23.12.2020. Exhibit P4 COPY OF ORDER ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT DIRECTING THE PETITIONER TO REMIT RS. 1000/- AS COAST FOR ALLOWING THE DELAY PETITION DATED 12.4.2021. Exhibit P5 COPY OF CHALLAN NO. KL003259869 202122 PETITIONER REMITTED THE COST AS DIRECTED IN EXT. P4 ODER DATED 21.06.2021. Exhibit P6 COPY OF NOTICE NO. RRC. 182/2018-19, 02/21-22 & 01/21-22 ISSUED BY IST RESPONDENT DATED 08.07.2021.