Telangana Commercial Taxes N.G.O.S Association vs. The Commissioner Of Commercial Taxes - Telangana High Court, 13 June 2025

Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances

[ 3304 ] HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF JUNE TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE NAMAVARAPU RAJESHWAR RAO WRIT PETITION NO:15911 OF 2025 Between: AND 1 Ig!-q:Cgl, Commerciat Taxes. N.G_O.S-Association, Hyderabad (Regd. No. 3533/20_01) Havin_g its office at H.No.5-9-31 1, Ftat No. tOt inO t'OZ,-iirjni Kamal B.uild.ing, Gunfoundry, Hyderabad Represented uy its ereiideni ttti. Mohd Mujahid, Hussain, S7o. Mohammed Murad Hussain AgeO sg-VLaii, Ri/o. Karimnagar ..,PETITIONER The Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Government of Telangana, CommerciaI Taxes building, Nampally, Hyderabad Tlg State of Telangana, Represented by its principal Secretary (Revenue- L; l) Secretariat, Hyderabad Telangana Public Service Commission, prathibha Bhavan, fv1.J Rd, patel Nagar, Ghosha Mahal North, Nampally, Hyderabad, Telangana SObOOi- The State of Telangana, Represented by its Chief Secretary, Secretariat, Hyderabad ...RESPONDENTS 2 3 4 Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of lndia praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High court may be pleased to issue a writ, order or direction, more particularly in the nature of a writ of mandamus directing the Respondents to confer the status of Gazetted officer to the officers of the commercial raxes Department in the cadre of Deputy State Tax Officers (Previously Assistant Commercial Tax Officers) IANO:1OF2 025 , Petition under Section 151 cpc praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to direct the Respondents to consider the representation of the petitioner dated .rg_ 05-2025. Counsel for the Petitioner: SRI M. NAGA DEEPAK Counsel forthe Respondent Nos.1 and 2: Gp FOR SERVICES-I Counsel for the Respondent No.3: SRI p.S. RAJASEKHAR REDDY, SC FOR TGPSC Counsel for the Respondent No.4: Gp FOR SERVICES-II

The Court made the following: ORDER t

TH H ,B E U E M v P ES w IT N 9 10 2 ORDER: With the consent of both parties, this Writ Petition is disposed of at the admission stage itself'

Heard Sri M. Naga Deepak,.learned counsel for the petitioner' learned Government Pleader for Services-I for respondent Nos'1 and 2, Sri P.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, learned Standing Counsel for TGPSC, for respondent No'3, and learned Government Pleader for Services-Il for respondent No'4' Perused the material on record' 3.Brieffactsofthecasearethatthepetitionerisaregistered and recognized association comprising offlcers in the Commercial Taxes Department, including those serving in the cadre of Assistant commercial Tax officers, presently re-designated as Deputy state Tax Officers (DSTOs). The said officers perform statutory' executive, and quasi-judicial functions under the Telangana VAT Act, 2005, and the GST Act, including registration' inspections' levying of penalties, and confiscation of goods' 4 The Association has been pursuing the matter of conferring Gazetted status on the said cadre since 2OL7 ' The initial was submitted on 23'02'2017, followed by representation

2 subsequent representations on 03.05.20L7, 24.0L 2018, and the latest dated 19.05.2025, which was received by the Government on 22.05.2025. The Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Hyderabad, supported the request through multiple communtcations, including Ref.No.c(DX) /323/2017, dated 03.06.2 or7, and again on 29.O3.2022 and L3.t0.2022. 5. The First pay Revision Commission, Telangana, in its 2020 Report (Chapter XV, para 1S.10), recommended Gazetted status for the cadre. Additionally, similar posts in other departments such as Deputy Tahsirdars, sub-Registrars, and Assistant Labour officers have been granted Gazetted status. Notably, the Government of Andhra Pradesh, vrde G.O.Ms.No.2t2, dated 06.04.2022, conferred Gazetted status upon GST officers who perform identical functions.

Despite multiple representations and clear recommendations, no final decision has been taken by the respondents, leading to the filing of the present Writ petition.

Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that appropriate orders be passed in this Writ petition, directing the respondents to consider the representation submitted by the petitioner on 19.05.2025 and pass appropriate orders in accordance with raw. t

I 3 Learned Government Pleader appearing for the respondents,

The Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Govemment of Telangana' ' Commercial Taxes building, Nampally, Hyderabad 2.ThePrincipalsecretary(Revenue-CT)Secretariat,TheStateofTelangana' Hyderabad 3.TelanqanaPublicServiceCommission'PrathibhaBhavan,MJRd'Patel ' N6;;: Ghtsr'i rtrinit North, Nampallv, Hvderabad, Telangana 500001

The Chief Secretary, Secretariat, The State of Telangana' Hyderabad

One CC to Sri M. Naga Deepak, Advocate [OPUC]

Two CC to The GP for Services-|, High Court for the State of Telangana, at Hyderabad[OUT]

One CC to Sri P.S. Ralasekhar Reddy' SC for TGPSCIOPUCI B. Two CC to The GP for Services-ll' High Court for the State of Telangana, at Hyderabad[OUTI

Two CD CoPies did not dispute the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner.

Taking into consideration the submissions made by the learned counsel for the respective parties, without going into the merits of the case, this Writ Petition is disposed of .directing respondent Nos.2 and 4 to consider the petitioner's representation dated 19.05.2025, and pass appropriate orders in accordance with law, as expeditiously as possible, preferably, within a period of eight (8) weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. There shall be no order as to costs. As a sequel, miscellaneous applications pending, if any, in this Writ Petition, shall stand closed. . T. TIRUMALA DEVI EPUTY REGISTRAR //' SECTION OFFICER To, TJ GJP i

HIGH COURT DATED:1 310612025 ORDER WP.No.15911 of 2025 DISPOSING OF THE WRIT PETITION WITHOUT COSTS 2 t ,lutl 2q5 t o o() * lHE S P/i T(. u - T4I€ ?^ t7