Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 3: Division Bench of High Court comprising Justice Mansoor Ahmed Mir and Justice Tashi Rabstan today directed the Commissioner Sales Tax and Inspector Generals of Police (IGPs) of Jammu and Kashmir Zones to draw action plan including lodging of FIRs against those Sales Tax defaulters, who are not traceable and who have given improper/incorrect addresses.
This direction was passed in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Balvinder Singh and Others seeking recovery of Sales Tax arrears worth crores of rupees from the defaulters.
In the status report submitted by the Commissioner, Commercial/ Sales Tax, the details about the arrears of tax and the amount recovered by the authorities in terms of the orders passed by High Court in this case were furnished. It has been stated that Rs 111.48 crore have been recovered with effect from April 1, 2011 up to June 24, 2013.
According to the status report, Rs 67.22 crore are to be recovered from Government/Semi Government Departments, Rs 113.75 crore from non-traceable defaulters, Rs 20.23 crore from migrant dealers and Rs 122.52 crore from existing defaulters. However, the respondents have also moved an application seeking modification in the order dated September 4, 2012 in order to grant amnesty to the dealers of Ladakh region.
According to the status report filed by IGPs, various raids were conducted to execute the warrants at the given addresses as well as the residential premises of the defaulters. However, some of the defaulters could not be located and in their cases warrants were to be returned unexecuted to the concerned authorities on the due dates. Further, it has been stated that improper particulars of the defaulters was one of the reasons for non-execution of the warrants.
After hearing Senior Advocate Sunil Sethi with Advocates Ravi Abrol and Mohsin Bhat for the petitioner, Senior AAG Gagan Basotra for the State respondents whereas Advocate MA Bhat for the Sales Tax Department, the DB issued directions for taking all steps as warranted under law read with the orders passed by High Court from time to time to effect recovery of arrears of tax from all the defaulters including Government/Semi Government Departments.
The DB also directed Commissioner, Commercial/ Sales Tax to furnish details of all those defaulters, whose warrants have been received back unexecuted for want of correct particulars of their units and residential premises and the details of the migrant dealers to the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (M), Jammu, who in turn shall furnish present addresses of those migrant dealers, residential as well as commercial, to the Commissioner Commercial Sales Tax and IGPs so that the warrants could be executed against them and recovery of arrears of tax could be effected from them by the Commissioner Commercial/Sales Tax.
The Division Bench further directed IGPs to execute the warrants on their receiving the exact particulars of defaulters and report compliance. The Commissioner Commercial/ Sales Tax and IGPs were directed to draw action plan including lodging of FIRs against those defaulters, who are not traceable and who have given improper/incorrect addresses as reported in the status report submitted by them.
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