PUNE, February 25: The legal notices issued by Additional Sales Tax Commissioner R H Tadvi to 5,000 odd dealers virtually threatening them to deposit varied sums from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 15 crore in the National Savings Certificates scheme has triggered off a major controversy in industrial circles which has strongly protested the manner in which the notices have been framed. So much so that the industry has taken a united stand not to succumb to pressure and make any payments to the government.According to sales tax consultant Shashikant Shah, the notices have been prepared in a standardised format without any proper study. The officials obviously have not done their homework and have quoted arbitrary amounts to be paid by companies toward additional security, he said. What has upset the industry is the threat to cancel their CST registration if they did not comply with the directives of the department. As per 45 CST Rajasthan Act, the demand of security has to be exercised in each case on sound principlesand judiciously and not arbitrarily, he said, adding that this was not the case in Pune where almost every company has received a similar letter with only the amount changed towards additional security.
Chairman of the Sales Tax Committee of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MCCI) Shantilal Shah said that it was absolutely illegal for the government officials to demand additional security since this was applicable only in cases of misuse of the C-form.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
