WP(C) No. 27798 of 2009 · Kerala High Court

C.K. ABDUL REHIM, J- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -W.P.(C)No. 27798 of 2009- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Dated this the 6th day of October, 2009J U D G M E N T1.Petitioner was imposed with penalty under Section 69 (1), 70 & 47 (2) of the Kerala Value Added TaxAct, 2003 (KVAT Act), on the basis of an allegation that hehad transported certain goods without proper documents asrequired under Section 46 (3), and had attacked thedepartmental vehicle and intimidated the authorities of the Intelligence Squad who had intercepted such transport. Against Exts.P1 & P2 proceedings imposing penalty, thepetitioner preferred three appeals before the First AppellateAuthority which were disposed of by allowing deduction inthe amount of penalty in two of the cases and confirmingthe penalty imposed in another case.

According to the petitioner, the imposition ofpenalty under Section 69 (1) & 70 of the KVAT Act, which is W.P.(C)No. 27798 of 2009-2-confirmed and modified by the First Appellate Authority, was further challenged in Second Appeal before the 2ndrespondent Tribunal. Exts.P4 & P5 are the appeals filed inthis regard.

The petitioner submitted that with respect to theincident which lead to imposition of penalty, the authoritieshad instituted a Criminal Case (C.C. No.862/2008) which isnow pending trial before the Chief Judicial First ClassMagistrate Court-I, Thrissur. Under such circumstancesthe petitioner had approached the 2nd respondent Tribunalto keep in abeyance the appeals, till the disposal of the Criminal Case. Complaint of the petitioner is that withoutconsidering such request the Tribunal is now taking stepsto dispose of the appeals and on such event the petitionerwill be put to severe prejudice. It is further submitted thatamounts covered under the penalty orders have alreadybeen remitted.

Considering the facts and circumstances of thecase I am of the opinion that the limited prayer in the Writ W.P.(C)No. 27798 of 2009-3-Petition for keeping the appeal pending till disposal of the Criminal Case seems to be quiet reasonable.

Therefore the 2nd respondent is directed toadjourn hearing and disposal of Exts. P4 & P5 appeals tillthe Criminal Case, C.C.No.862/2008 is disposed of by the Chief Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-I, Thrissur. It ismade clear that on the event of the appeal being allowed, the petitioner will not be entitled to claim interest on theamount to be refunded for the periods from today onwards. C.K. ABDUL REHIM JUDGEshg/