SC on arbitrary orders passed by the commercial tax authorities
The SC, in Assistant Commissioner Anti Evasion Commercial Taxes, Bharatpur vs Amtek India Limited, has passed strictures on commercial tax officers who pass arbitrary and unreasonable orders.
The SC said, “…the action of the concerned assessing officer, in overlooking the documents produced coming to the conclusion about manipulation appears to be totally uncalled for and without any reasonable basis. This is a case where the officer should have been more careful and should not have acted in a manner as if he was a bloodhound and not a watchdog of revenue. It is unfortunate that in large number of cases, orders totally bereft of rationality are being passed. They do not in any manner serve public interest, much less the interest of revenue.