- (1.)The question for consideration is whether the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (the Tribunal) was right in holding that the High Powered Committee (HPC) constituted under the provisions of Rule 28-C of the Haryana General Sales Tax Rules 1975 (the Rules) had merely deferred payment of sales tax by the Respondent/Assessee and had not granted it any tax concession. In our opinion, the question must be answered in the negative and in favour of the Revenue.
The facts

(2.)The Assessee is a prestigious unit manufacturing and selling vehicles in the State of Haryana. On 4th October, 2002 the Revenue issued a show cause notice to the Respondent/Assessee on the ground, inter alia, that on the sale of its vehicles for the quarters ending September and December 2001 and March and June, 2002 the Assessee had retained 50% of the sales tax collected by it from its customers. The retention allegedly was on the strength of an entitlement certificate dated 1st August, 2001 issued by the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner in Haryana under the provisions of Rule 28-C of the Rules.
(3.)Rule 28-C of the Rules reads as follows:
Rule 28-C

Tax concessions, class of industries, period and other conditions. (Section 25A)

(1) Concessions of tax payable under the Acts shall be available to an eligible industrial unit in the manner, for the period and at the scale given hereinafter.

(2) A Unit availing tax concession under this rule shall not be entitled to any other tax concession Under Section 13B or Section 25-A of the Act.

(3)(c) "eligible industrial unit" means

(1) xxx

Note: The eligibility of units in pipeline shall be determined by High Powered Committee in case of prestigious units and by Higher Level Screening Committees in other cases. The decision of High Powered Committee/Higher Level Screening Committee shall be final.

(4) xxx

(5)(a) Subject to other provisions of this rule, an eligible industrial unit (except a prestigious unit) holding a valid entitlement certificate shall be entitled to the concession of deferment of payment of sales tax including central sales tax and conversion of the same to capital subsidy, computer on the sale of goods (including by-products and waste) manufactured by the unit of arising from the process of manufacturer and declared in the sales tax returns filed by the unit, without taking into account the rebate admissible Under Section 15A or the rules framed under the Act, at the scale, subject to the time limit and the extent related to the fixed capital investment (FCI) and the unit shall be required to pay only the balance of tax after deducting the rebate and the capital subsidy plus any purchase tax payable at its hands but no refunds of any amount of tax paid shall accrue to the unit by operation of these provisions.

Explanation I-xxx

Illustration-xxx

(b) Decision about the grant of tax concession to prestigious unit shall be taken by the High Powered Committee on the basis of factors like employments generation, likely revenue, growth of ancillaries, impact on overall industrial growth etc. A prestigious unit shall not be, as a matter of right, entitled to benefits available to other units.