- (1.) THIS is an application under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution praying that a writ in the nature of prohibition be issued to the Sales Tax Officer, Ghaziabad, prohibiting him from proceeding with future assessment proceedings, including that pertaining to the assessment year 1953-54 pending before him, except on the basis of the applicant's turnover of the assessment year, that a writ in the nature of certiorari be issued to the opposite parties calling for the record of the case and quashing the assessment orders pertaining to assessment years 1951-52 and 1952-53, the appellate order dated the 25th February, 1953, and the decision of the Sales Tax Officer contained in his post card, dated the 11th of August, 1953, and that a writ in the nature of mandamus be issued to the opposite parties directing them to refund the amount of tax illegally imposed.
(2.) THE applicant No. 1 is a joint stock company and owns three factories. Its accounting year starts from 1st November and ends on 31st October. When the U.P. Sales Tax Act came into force on the 1st of April, 1948, applicant No. 1 became liable to sales tax. Section 7(1) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act of 1948 prescribes the submission of a return of a dealer's turnover of the previous year within sixty days of the commencement of the assessment year in such form and verified in such manner as may be prescribed. Under the first proviso the State Government could prescribe that any dealer might submit in lieu of the return specified in the section, that is, in lieu of the return of his turnover of the previous year, a return of his turnover of the assessment year. According to Section 2, clause (j), sub-clause (ii), "'Previous year' means the twelve months ending on the 31st day of March next preceding the assessment year, or, if the accounts of a dealer have been made up to a date within the said twelve months in respect of a year ending on any date other than the said 31st day of March then, at the option of the dealer, the year ending on the day to which his accounts have so been made up" and the proviso to this definition of "previous year" takes away the discretion given to the dealer in fixing the previous year in case he had been once assessed to tax under the Act. He could exercise that option with the consent of the assessing authority and upon such conditions as the assessing authority may think fit. "Assessment year" means the twelve months ending on 31st March.
(3.) THE application submitted its return for the assessment years 1948-49 and 1949-50 on the basis of its turnover of the previous years, i.e., 1946-47 and 1947-48 respectively. In wanted to take advantage of the proviso to Section 7, sub-section (1), of the Sales Tax Act for the assessment year 1950-51 and applied to the Commissioner of Sales Tax for permission to change the basis of its assessment from previous year to that of assessment year. The Commissioner allowed its prayer on condition that if the tax due on a previous year's basis for the assessment year 1950-51 exceeded the tax on the basis of assessment year's sales the excess amount would be paid by the applicant company to the Government. The applicant made further representations to the Commissioner and to the Finance Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh, for the withdrawal of the condition imposed by the Commissioner. Those representations were unsuccessful. It then submitted a return on the basis of the previous year for the assessment year 1950-51. It makes no grievance with respect to this assessment in this application.;