(1) Any assessee considering himself aggrieved by an
original order may prefer an appeal and the said appeal shall lie, ‑
(a) if the order is made by any
authority or officer who is lower in rank to Joint Excise and Taxation
Commissioner, to the Joint Excise and Taxation Commissioner or such other
officer as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,
appoint;
(b) if the order is made by
any authority or officer who is not lower in rank to Joint Excise and Taxation
Commissioner, to the Commissioner or such other officer as the State Government
may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint;
(c) if the order is made by the Commissioner
to the Tribunal.
Note ‑ An original order means an
order passed under this Act except an order passed on appeal or on revision.
(2) Any order passed by a
revising authority or an appellate authority other than the Tribunal shall be
further appealable to the Tribunal by either side.
(3) The appellate authority
shall not, for the first time, receive in evidence on behalf of either side in
any appeal, any account, register, record or document, unless for reasons to be
recorded in writing, it considers, that such account, register, record or
document is genuine and that the failure to produce the same before the
authority below or bring the same on record was for reasons beyond the control
of the party which is producing the same.
(4) Every order passed by
the Tribunal on appeal shall, subject
to the provisions of section 35 and section 36, be final.
(5) No appeal preferred by
an assessee to an appellate authority shall be entertained unless it is filed
within sixty days from the date of the order appealed against and the amount of
tax and interest admitted by the appellant to be due as a result of the said
order has been paid by him.
(6) No appeal preferred to
the Tribunal by any authority under the Act shall be entertained unless
filed under sub‑section (2) within a period of one hundred eighty days
from the date of the order appealed against.
(7) The period specified in
sub‑section (5) or (6) for filing an appeal shall, in the case of an
appeal from any order copy of which has to be supplied by the appropriate
authority to the appellant, commence from the date of the supply of the copy of
the order to the appellant or his authorised agent, and in the case of an
appeal from any other order passed under this Act or the rules made there
under, the time spent in obtaining the certified copy of the order shall be
excluded in computing the said period.
(8) Subject to regulations
made by the Tribunal under sub‑section (15) of section 57 and subject to
such rules of procedure as may be prescribed in relation to an appellate
authority other than the Tribunal, an appellate authority may pass such order
on appeal as it deems to be just and proper including an order enhancing the
amount of tax or penalty or interest or all under this Act but in no case it shall
stay recovery of the amount due against the appellant as a result of the order
appealed against.
(1) The Commissioner may, on
his own motion, call for the record of any case pending before, or disposed of by,
any taxing authority for the purposes of satisfying himself as to the legality
or to the propriety of any proceeding or of any order made therein which is
prejudicial to the interests of the State and may, after giving the persons
concerned a reasonable opportunity of being heard, pass such order in relation
thereto as he may think fit:
Provided
that no order passed by a taxing authority shall be revised on an issue which
on appeal or in any other proceeding from such order is pending before, or has
been settled by, an appellate authority or the High Court or the Supreme Court,
as the case may be:
Provided
further that no order shall be revised after the expiry of a period of three
years from the date of the supply of the copy of such order to the assessee
except where the order is revised as a result of retrospective change in law or
on the basis of a decision of the Tribunal in a similar case or on the basis of
law declared by the High Court or the Supreme Court.
(2) The State Government
may, by notification in the Official Gazette, confer on any officer not below
the rank of Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, the powers of the
Commissioner under sub‑section (1) to be exercised subject to such
exceptions, conditions and restrictions as may be specified in the notification
and where an officer on whom such powers have been conferred passes an order
under this section, such order shall be deemed to have been passed by the
Commissioner under sub‑section (1).
(1) Any person including an
authority under this Act considering himself aggrieved by an order of the
Tribunal and who, from the discovery of any new and important matter or
evidence which, after the exercise of due diligence, was not within his
knowledge or could not be produced by him at the time when such order was made,
or on account of some mistake or error of law or facts, desires to obtain a
review of the order made against the State or him, may apply for a review of
such order to the Tribunal.
(2) The application for
review shall be preferred within one year from the date of the order sought to
be reviewed in the manner prescribed and where the application is preferred by
an assessee it shall be accompanied by such fee not exceeding five hundred
rupees, as may be prescribed.
(3) The Tribunal of its own
accord after giving notice to the parties concerned, review on account of some
mistake or error of law or facts, any order made by it before the expiry of
eight years from the date of the order.
[STATEMENT OF CASE TO HIGH COURT]
(1) Within sixty days from
the passing of an order under section 33 or section 35 by the Tribunal
affecting any liability of any dealer to pay tax under this Act, such dealer or
the Commissioner may, by an application in writing, accompanied by a fee of
five hundred rupees in case the application is made by a dealer, require the
Tribunal to refer to the High Court any question of law arising out of such
order:
Provided
that for the purposes of calculating the period of sixty days the period spent
in obtaining the copy of the order shall be excluded.
(2) If for the reasons to be
recorded in writing, the Tribunal refuses to make such reference, the applicant
may within ninety days of such refusal either
(a) withdraw his application (and if he does
so, the fee paid shall be refunded); or
(b) apply to the High Court against such
refusal.
(3) If upon the receipt of
an application under clause (b) of sub‑section (2), the High Court is not
satisfied of the correctness of the decision of the Tribunal, it may require
the Tribunal, to state the case and refer it, and on the receipt of such
requisition, the Tribunal shall state and refer the case accordingly.
(4) If the High Court is not
satisfied that the statements in a case referred to under this section are
sufficient to enable it to determine the question raised thereby, it may refer
the case back to the Tribunal to make such additions thereto or alterations
therein as the Court may direct in that behalf.
(5) The High Court upon the
hearing of any such case shall decide the question of law raised thereby, and
shall deliver its judgement thereon containing the grounds on which such
decision is founded and shall send to the Tribunal a copy of such judgement
under the seal of the Court and the signature of the Registrar, and the
Tribunal shall dispose of the case accordingly.
(6) Where a reference is
made to the High Court under this section the cost shall be in the discretion
of the Court.
(7) The payment of the amount,
if any, of the tax due in accordance with the order of the Tribunal, in respect
of which an application has been made under sub‑section (1), shall not be
stayed pending the disposal of such application or any reference made in
consequence thereof, but if such amount is reduced as a result of such
reference, the excess tax paid shall be refunded in accordance with the
provisions of section 20.