IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE SEVENTEENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MRS JUSTICE T.MEENA KUMARI A N D THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION NO : 19913 of 2008 Between: M/s. Sanjay Alloys Private Limited, Nakkapalli, Moram-Post, Kuppam road, Palamaner- 517 432, Chittoor District, rep. by its Manager - Accounts, Mr. Vijay Anand Gupta. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Deputy Commercial Tax Officer, Madanapally Circle, Chittoor District. 2 The Appellate Deputy Commissioner (CT), Kurnool Division, Kurnool. .....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 of Mandamus or any other proper writ or order or direction, declaring the action of the 1st respondent in issuing the impugned auction notice dated 28-8-2008 proposing auction of the conﬁscated goods of 24,080 kgs of sponge iron worth Rs. 5,80,660/- even during the pendency of appeal and stay application as illegal, arbitrary and unjustiﬁed and set aside the same and consequently direct the 1st Respondent to release the goods pending disposal of the appeal before the 2nd Respondent and to pass such other suitable orders as this Court may deems ﬁt and proper in the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.BHASKAR REDDY VEMIREDDY Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR COMMERCIAL TAX The Division Bench of this Court made the following order: THE HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE T. MEENA KUMARI A N D THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION NO : 19913 of 2008 O R D E R : { Per the Hon’ble Smt. Justice T. Meena Kumari } . The writ petition is ﬁled seeking a Writ of Mandamus or any other proper writ or order or direction, declaring the action of the 1st respondent in issuing the impugned auction notice dated 28-8-2008 proposing auction of the conﬁscated goods of 24,080 kgs., of sponge iron worth Rs. 5,80,660/- even during the pendency of appeal and stay application as illegal, arbitrary and unjustiﬁed and set aside the same and consequently direct the 1st Respondent to release the goods pending disposal of the appeal before the 2nd Respondent and to pass such other suitable orders as this Court may deems ﬁt and proper in the circumstances of the case. 2. When the matter came up under the caption ‘for admission’, Sri V. Bhaskar Reddy, the learned counsel representing the petitioner, M/s. Sanjay Alloys Private Limited, Palamaner, represented by its Manager (Accounts), Sri Vijay Anand Gupta, fairly submitted across the bar that the petitioner is prepared to give bank guarantee to that of the value of confiscated goods. 3. On the other hand, Sri K. Raji Reddy, the learned Special Standing Counsel for Commercial Tax vehemently submitted that on 27-6-2008 at about 09:30 p.m., at Gangammagudi after Madanapalle, the Deputy Commercial Tax Oﬃcer-I, Madanapalle inspected the lorry bearing No. KA01D/8866 and the driver of the lorry produced records pertaining to Invoice cum delivery challan, freight account copy but did not produce the goods vehicle record/trip-sheet as required under section 48 of A.P. Value Added Tax Act, 2005. Therefore, auction notice dated 28-8-2008 in RC.NO.59/2008- 09 was issued stating that when the vehicle bearing Regdn.No.KAO1D/8866 was checked it was noticed that the sponge iron ore ﬁnes of 24080 Kgs., was being transported from Bellary to Bangalore and certain irregularities were noticed, therefore, the Commercial Tax Oﬃcer under the powers conferred by Rule 56 (1) (i) of A.P. Value Added Tax Rules 2005 authorized and permitted the Deputy Commercial Tax Oﬃcer-I, Madanapalle being the jurisdictional D.C.T.O., on the conﬁscated goods to go for sale of sponge iron ore ﬁnes of 24080 Kgs., valued at Rs.5,60,260-00 in open auction and to remit the sale proceeds thereon into Government treasury and issued seizure cum conﬁscation notice. Thereafter, the petitioner ﬁled objections to the said notice and the same was considered and rejected and notice of auction was issued for auctioning of goods. 4. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner as well as the learned Special Standing Counsel for Commercial Tax. 5. In view of the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, after having heard both sides, we see some justiﬁcation in the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner. In the circumstances, without going into the merits of the matter, we are of the considered opinion that the ﬁrst respondent is directed to release the goods i.e., sponge iron ore ﬁnes of 24080 Kgs., valued at Rs.5,60,260-00, which are proposed for sale in open auction under the proceedings in RC.No.59/2008-09, auction notice dated 28-8-2008 to the petitioner, M/s. Sanjoy Alloys (P) Limited, Palamaner, Chittoor district, subject to the condition that the petitioner shall furnish bank guarantee to the value of the goods i.e., sponge iron ore fines of 24080 Kgs., valued at Rs.5,60,260-00 (Rs. Five lakhs, sixty thousand, two hundred and sixty only), pending disposal of the appeal before the second respondent. However, it is made clear that the second respondent shall dispose of the appeal as expeditiously as possible uninﬂuenced by any of the observations made in this order,, on merits and in accordance with law, preferably within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. 6. With the above direction, the writ petition is disposed of at the stage of admission. No costs. _____________________________ JUSTICE T. MEENA KUMARI. ____________________________________ JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANTHAN. 17-09-2008. I s L * N B : [1] Furnish CC of the order in two days. B/o. I s L ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1.2CCs to 2.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{MJ}