- (1.) HEARD Sri Ashok Kumar, learned Counsel for the petitioner and Sri Harsh -vardhan and Sri Rakesh Bajpai for the respondents.
(2.) THE petitioner, a private limited company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 having its registered office at New Delhi and factory at Noida, established a new unit in pursuance of the scheme of exemption notified by the State Government for the manufacture of soap and detergents. The petitioner was granted eligibility certificate on January 18, 1985. The aforesaid certificate was at one point of time cancelled by the Area Chief Executive Officer, Noida, whereupon the petitioner filed a writ petition in the High Court which was allowed on June 3, 1989 and the order cancelling the eligibility certificate was quashed. The petitioner, thus, possessed a valid eligibility certificate on the basis of which the exemption has been granted to the petitioner from payment of sales tax (now trade tax) for the assessment years 1984 -85, 1985 -86, 1986 -87, 1987 -88 and 1988 -89. It appears that despite the aforesaid eligibility certificate being in force, the assessing authority took some different view in the assessment proceedings and, therefore, the petitioner filed one more writ petition bearing No. 462 of 1989 Manak Tala Chemicals (P) Ltd. v. State of U. P. [1991] UPTC 913, which was also allowed after holding that the assessing authority has no jurisdiction to sit in judgment over the grant of eligibility certificate granting exemption from payment of trade tax.
(3.) THE petitioner again felt aggrieved when a notice under Section 21 of the Sales Tax Act dated March 22, 1993 was issued and received on March 30, 1993 fixing March 31, 1993 for appearance and hearing. This notice related to the assessment years 1984 -85 and 1985 -86. As per the averments made in the writ petition, the petitioner appeared before the assessing authority and apprised him that the notice has been issued beyond limitation which period has already expired but without giving any adjournment or considering the aforesaid objections, the assessing authority proceeded to make the assessment ex parte. The petitioner received the ex parte order of assessment for the year 1984 -85 and 1985 -86 in which it was for the first time mentioned that the Commissioner/Additional Commissioner, Sales Tax, U. P., Lucknow on March 29, 1993 had granted permission to initiate the proceedings under Section 21 of the Act for the aforesaid assessment years.;