JUDGMENT :

(Prayer: Writ Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for the issuance of a Writ of Certiorari, calling for the records of the respondent herein in his TNGST Nos.44684/1984-85, 084727/1985-86 dated 29.02.2012 and 27.08.2012 respectively and quash the same.)

1. The petitioner is the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., and challenges proceedings of the Deputy Commissioner, Large Tax Payer Unit dated 29.02.2012 and 27.08.2012 for the periods 1984-85 and 1985-1986 passed in terms of the provision of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 (in short 'Act').

2. The petitioner has restricted its challenge only to the levy of penalty under Section 12(5)(iii) of the Act. Though the impugned proceedings have been challenged by way of statutory appeal, the specific ground that has been raised in this writ petition is a legal ground that goes to the root of the matter and hence, I am of the view that the mere fact that levy has been challenged in appeal will not be a bar to the maintainability of the writ petitions. Moreover, even though the levy of penalty was challenged before the first Appellate Authority, a copy of the order passed by the First Appellate