IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE TWENTY SECOND DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MRS JUSTICE T.MEENA KUMARI AND THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION NO : 19957 of 2008 Between: M/s. Sri Lakshmi Narsimha Traders, 4-1-205, Gandhi Ganj, Vikarabad, R.R. District, Rep. by its Owner Mr.A.Srinias S/o. Rajalingaih, Aged 43 years. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 ommercial Tax Officer, Madapur Circle, 2nd Floor, Gagan Vihar, Opp: Exhibition Grounds, Nampally, Hyderabad. 2 Deputy Commissioner (CT), Hyderabad Rural Division, 4th Floor, Gagan Vihar, Opp: Exhibition Grounds, Nampally, Hyderabad. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to issue a Writ or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the impugned order dated 27.03.2008 (served on 21.08.2008) i.e., in G.I.No.2/1779/2004- 05 (CST) passed by the 1st respondent as illegal, arbitrary, unjust and contrary to the principles of natural justices and fair play and consequently set aside the same and to pass such other order or further orders. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.T.RAMESH BABU Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR COMMERCIAL TAX The Court made the following : ORAL ORDER(PER T HE HON’BLE SMT . JUST ICE T .MEENA KUMARI) Seeking a writ of mandamus declaring the order dated 27.03.2008 passed by the ﬁrst respondent in GI NO.2/1779/2004-05 (CST) whereby a demand for payment of Rs.6,00,000/- was raised, as illegal, arbitrary and contrary to the principles of natural justice and consequently to set aside the same, the petitioner ﬁled this writ petition. The petitioner is a buying agent for the non- resident principals. It buys agricultural produce within the State of Andhra Pradesh and also rarely buys products outside the State and is a registered dealer on the rolls of the ﬁrst respondent. While so, the petitioner has declare its business transactions to the ﬁrst respondent for the Assessment Year 2004-2005 under APGST Act and also submitted other required forms duly certiﬁed by the Chartered Accountant. The ﬁrst respondent has assessed the petitioner by order dated 3.10.2006 and levied tax of Rs.6,00,000/-, even without putting the petitioner on notice and calling for reply. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Special Standing Counsel for Commercial Taxes. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the impugned order passed by the ﬁrst respondent shows that the show cause notice dated 9.7.2007 sent to the petitioner calling for objections, was returned un-served. It further shows that the petitioner having received the show cause notice, did not ﬁle any objections. In the backdrop of these inconsistent assertions, the learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that in fact no such show cause notice was served on the petitioner and, therefore, the impugned order suﬀers from violation of principles of natural justice and is liable to be set aside. Having heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Special Standing Counsel, without adverting to the merits or otherwise of the submissions, we are of the considered opinion that an opportunity has to be granted to the petitioner to ﬁle objections to the show cause notice dated 9.7.2007, said to have been issued by the ﬁrst respondent. Therefore, while directing the petitioner to ﬁle his submissions within a period of four weeks from today, treating the impugned order as notice, we direct the ﬁrst respondent to dispose of such objections to be ﬁled by the petitioner, within a period of two months thereafter. With this direction, the writ petition is disposed of at the stage of admission. No order as to costs. ___________________ Justice T.Meena Kumari _______________________ Justice Ramesh Ranganathan September 22, 2008 MAS ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1.2CCs to 2.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{KURR}