Acquiescence to the jurisdiction of an authority can estop a party from challenging orders at a later stage.

JUDGMENT :

PANKAJ MITHAL, J.

1. The petitioner was a Registered Partnership Firm before its dissolution and was probably dealing in Automobiles, Electronics and Pharmaceuticals with its Head Office at Srinagar.

2. The petitioner has invoked the writ jurisdiction of this court for the quashing of the order dated 22nd December, 2008 passed by the respondent No. 2 Commissioner, Commercial Taxes J&K, Government, the consequential order dated 30th March, 2011 passed by the respondent No. 4 Assessing Authority, Commercial Taxes and the Recovery dated 14th November, 2011 to recover the assessed amount of interest and penalty.

3. The petitioner alleges that it had been submitting regular returns till the year, 1990 when on account of eruption of militancy in J&K, threats were issued through publication in the newspapers of the State not to pay any tax to the Government or to suffer serious consequences. In view of the above threats, returns could not be filed in time by large number of persons including the petitioner.

4. The matter of assessment and payment of sales tax in the State of J&K used to be governed by the General Sales Tax Act, 1962 which inter-alia vide Section 25-D empowered the Government to grant immunity from penalty or to reduce or remit interest on arrears of tax admitted by the dealers or assessed by the authorities in public interest.

5. On account of the peculiar situation prevailing in the State of J&K due to militancy, the administrative machinery was virtually defunct and could not collect sale tax dues regularly and at the same times even assesses could not file return and remit the tax resulting in huge accumulated arrears till March, 1997. The Government thus came out with a notification in the form of SRO 244, dated 25.06.1999 which provided for remittance of 100% of interest and penalty in respect of defaulters of tax provided they pay their arrears accrued upto 31st March, 1997 in a maximum period of 30 quarterly installments starting from 1st quarter of the financial year 1999-2000.

6. The scheme provided under the aforesaid SRO for payment of arrears of interest and penalty was commonly known as amnesty scheme.

7. The petitioner applied for the benefit under the said amnesty scheme, but the same was denied to him vide order dated 8th November, 1999. The said order was assailed by the petitioner by means of OWP No. 592/2000. The said writ petition was allowed vide judgment and order dated 11th July, 2001 holding that the order impugned dated 8th November, 1999 is not tenable in law and that denial of benefit of the amnesty scheme to the petitioner is not proper. The order was accordingly set-aside with the direction to the appropriate authority to take further action after compliance of the procedure prescribed by Section 7 of the Act within a period of two months. The aforesaid judgment and order of the High Court was challenged before the Supreme Court by means of a Special Leave to Appeal, but the same was dismissed in limini on 9th July, 2002.

8. After the aforesaid decision attained finality, the appropriate authority under the Act proceeded further in the matter and after following the proper procedure vide order dated 27th June, 2003 held that the petitioner is qualified for amnesty under SRO 244 to the extent of tax worked out above and the firm was directed to deposit the deficit/differential amount along-with the installment of interest due in according with the calculation made there-under. The aforesaid order was accepted by the authorities and was not challenged by anyone in any superior forum much-less in appeal under Section 11 of the Act.

9. It so happened that the respondent No. 2, Commissioner, Commercial Taxes in its suo-moto exercise of revisional power on the basis of some audit report after about 5 years passed an order setting-aside the order of the appropriate authority dated 27th June, 2003 and remanded the matter to the Assessing Authority with the direction to proceed afresh and pass an