GUWAHATI, India, July 28 -- Gauhati High Court issued the following order on June 27:
1. The petitioner, M/s Carbon Resources Pvt. Ltd. has preferred these six writ petitions - W.P.[C] no. 388/2023, W.P.[C] no. 412/2023, W.P.[C] no. 413/2023, W.P.[C] no. 414/2023, W.P.[C] no. 415/2023 and W.P.[C] no. 416/2023 - under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to assail six different Orders, all dated 07.11.2022, passed by the Commissioner of Taxes, Assam [the respondent no. 2].
2. For the purpose of understanding the issues raised in these six writ petitions, the writ petition, W.P.[C] no. 388/2023 is considered as the lead case and the facts stated therein are delineated hereinbelow, as the nature of assail in the other writ petitions, in essence, are substantially similar. The necessary and relevant facts for the other writ petitions would be adverted to wherever it is found necessary.
I. Facts of the cases :-
3. The petitioner is a private limited company incorporated under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 and it has its Registered Office at Kolkata, West Bengal. It has an industrial unit at Village - Kukurmari, Post Office - Dhaligaon, District - Chirang, BTAD, Assam where it is engaged in the business of manufacture of Calcined Petroleum Coke [CPC].
4. The petitioner has stated that during the period under reference, it purchased Raw Petroleum Coke [RPC] within the State of Assam on payment of local taxes and after conversion of Raw Petroleum Coke [RPC] into Calcined Petroleum Coke [CPC], different quantities of Calcined Petroleum Coke [CPC] were sold in the course of inter-State trade or commerce during the relevant Assessment Years under reference and it paid tax on such sold Calcined Petroleum Coke [CPC] as per the provisions of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 ['the CST Act'] and other provisions of law in force. It is the case of the petitioner that as per Section 15[b] of the CST Act, where any tax was levied under the local law on the sale or purchase of any goods referred to in Section 14 of the CST Act and such goods were subsequently sold in the course of inter-State trade or commerce and Central Sales Tax was paid thereon, the amount of tax paid under the local tax law was reimbursable to the dealer paying such taxes.
5. The petitioner has asserted that during the reference period, the petitioner purchased Raw Petroleum Coke [RPC] from various refineries by paying Value Added Tax [VAT] levied under the Assam Value Added Tax Act, 2003 ['the AVAT Act', for short] and sold the same after converting the purchased Raw Petroleum Coke [RPC] into Calcined Petroleum Coke [CPC], which was a declared commodity under the head, 'Coal, including Coke in its forms' in the Course of inter-State trade or commerce. The petitioner had accordingly complied with the provision of paying the Central Sales Tax on such sold Calcined Petroleum Coke [CPC].
6. The petitioner has further stated that after the Judgment dated 12.01.2017 passed in Civil Appeal no[s]. 5518-5519 of 2013 [the State of Assam & others vs. M/s Guwahati Carbon Ltd. & another, etc.] by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the petitioner submitted a Letter to the Assistant Commissioner of Taxes, Bongaigaon ['the respondent no. 4'] on 17.01.2017 seeking reimbursement of the Value Added Tax [VAT] paid along with interest thereon for the Assessment Years : 2012-2013 to 2015-2016. On receipt of the said application, the respondent no. 4 vide an Office Letter dated 13.09.2019, addressed to the Commissioner of Taxes, Assam ['the respondent no. 2'], sought clarification regarding admissibility of the reimbursement claimed by the petitioner under Section 15[b] of the CST Act read with Section 50 of the AVAT Act for the Financial Years : 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015 and 2015- 2016.
*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/ecourtindiaHC/cases/display_pdf.php?filename=tuqye3PhFs%2BBDn75ghiOpJdBd7BEV%2BG2VYgdXSHgyEuC3eRWKKMzWkUi4wdSY9Zw&caseno=WP(C)/415/2023&cCode=1&cino=GAHC010006522023&state_code=6&appFlag=)
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
