- (1.) The instant appeal is taken up for hearing and the same is disposed of by the following judgment and order. The petitioner before us is running a black tea industry and as such, the petitioner applied for registration as a small-scale industry before the appropriate authority and after a great deal of effort, the petitioner could manage provisional registration.
(2.) Under the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994, there were various incentive schemes offered to the small-scale industries to set up industries in backward areas. One of the incentives was to give remission of tax in respect of the product for a certain period. On the strength of the provisional registration certificate of small-scale industries, the petitioner got the benefit of incentive scheme which is called the West Bengal Incentive Scheme, 1999 and such certificate of eligibility was issued on July 30, 2001 till 2002 initially. Thereafter, from time to time, application for renewal was made for extending the period up to July 29, 2005.
(3.) It appears from the records that renewal was granted on three occasions but at no point of time legality and validity of any ground, in issuing the certificate was ever questioned until the time as hereinafter mentioned when the petitioner applied for further renewal on and from July 30, 2005 and the authority concerned found that the initial issuance of certificate to the petitioner was invalid ab initio on the plea that pre-condition for obtaining such certificate was not fulfilled as the petitioner was not permanently registered under the small-scale industries. The petitioner unsuccessfully travelled up to the Commissioner who not only upheld the order but in fact by a subsequent order the Commissioner in exercise of its suo motu power recalled the earlier order of issuing certificate of eligibility with retrospective effect. Thus, the petitioner approached the Tribunal against the two orders with two separate actions.;