TAMIL NADU SALES TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL REGULATIONS, 1959

PREAMBLE

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (4) of section 30 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 (Tamil Nadu Act 1 of 1959) and in supersession of the Tamil Nadu Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal Regulations, 1951, the Tamil Nadu Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal hereby publishes, with the previous sanction of the State Government, the following regulations for regulating its procedure and disposal of business:

CHAPTER I GENERAL

Regulation - 1. Short title.

These regulations may be called the Tamil Nadu Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal Regulations, 1959.

Regulation - 2. Definitions.

In these regulations, unless there is anything repugnant to the subject or context,

(i)       "Act" means the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 (Tamil Nadu Act 1 of 1959);

Note. Section 87 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 (Tamil Nadu Act 32 of 2006) inter alia provides that the reference "Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959" shall be construed as "Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006".

(ii)      "Appeal" means a memorandum of appeal to the Appellate Tribunal filed under section 36 of the Act;

Note. Section 36 of TNGST Act is now section 58 of the TNVAT Act, 2006.

(iii)     "Application for review" means an application for review made to the Appellate Tribunal under Section 36(6)(a) of the Act;

Note. Section 36(6)(a) of TNGST Act is now section 58(7)(a) of the TNVAT Act, 2006.

(iv)    "Enhancement petition" means a petition filed either by an Assessing Officer or his representative before the Tribunal under section 36(3-A) of the Act;

Note. Section 36(3-A) of TNGST Act is now section 58(4) of TNVAT Act, 2006.

(v)      "Authorised representative" means any person referred to in clause (a) or clause (c) of section 52(4) of the Act and duly authorised by the appellant or applicant or respondent to represent him before the Tribunal;

Note. Section 52 of TNGST Act is now section 78 of the TNVAT Act, 2006.

(vi)    "Legal representative" means a person who in law represents the estate of a deceased person, and includes any person decided by the Appellate Tribunal to represent the deceased person in the proceedings pending before the Appellate Tribunal, unless and until a competent Court has decided otherwise;

(vii)   "Party" means the appellant or applicant and includes legal practitioner appointed by the appellant or an authorised representative;

(viii)  "Rules" means the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Rules, 1959, and the word rule shall be construed accordingly;

(ix)    "Secretary" means the person who is, for the time being, discharging the functions of the Secretary to the Appellate Tribunal and includes the person appointed to discharge the functions of the Secretaries to the Additional Benches of the Appellate Tribunal;

(x)      "State Representative" means an officer appointed by the State Government to receive on their behalf notices issued by the Appellate Tribunal and generally to appear, act and plead on their behalf in all proceedings before the Appellate Tribunal; and includes any Officer appointed as Additional State Representative/ Deputy State Representative/Assistant State Representative/ Additional Assistant State Representative;

Note. The term "State Representative" has been defined in rule 3(h) of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Rules 2007, as follows:

(h)   "State representative" means an officer of the Commercial Taxes Department appointed by the State Government to receive on their behalf notices issued by the Appellate Tribunal and to appear, act and plead on behalf of the State Government before the Appellate Tribunal.

In view of section 88(3)(i) of TNVAT Act, 2006. The definition in rule 3(h) of the TNVAT Rules, 2007, has the force in law and regulation 2(x) has no force.

(xi)      words and expressions used, but not defined in these regulations shall have the meaning assigned to them in the Act and Rules.

CHAPTER II HEADQUARTERS - SITTINGS AND OFFICE HOURS

Regulation - 3. Headquarters.

(1)     The headquarters of the Appellate Tribunal shall be at Chennai and in respect of the Additional Benches of the Appellate Tribunal referred to in regulations 11(2) and 11 (3), the headquarters shall be at Madurai and Coimbatore, respectively.

(2)     Place of hearing.

All appeals and applications for review shall, ordinarily, be heard at Chennai or at Madurai or at Coimbatore, as the case may be:

Provided that the Chairman may decide that any appeal or application for review to be heard at Chennai may be heard at any other place in the State of Tamil Nadu and any appeal or application for review to be heard at Madurai or at Coimbatore may be heard at any other place in the districts referred to in regulations 11(2) and 11(3), respectively.

Regulation - 4. Office hours.

The office of the Appellate Tribunal shall observe the same office hours and holidays as the other offices of the State Government.

Regulation - 5. Language.

The language of the Appellate Tribunal shall be English.

CHAPTER III APPEALS

Regulation - 6. Presentation of appeals.

(1)     An appeal shall be presented in person by the party to the Secretary or sent to him by registered post.

(2)     (i) All appeals and applications for review and enhancement petitions arising from the districts of Chennai, Chingleput*, North Arcot*, South Arcot* and Thanjavur* shall be presented to the Secretary at Chennai;

*Note. These Districts are bifurcated as Kanceepuram, Thiru-vallur, Thiruvannamalai, Vellor, Cuddalore, Villupura, Thanjavur, Nagappattinum and Thiruvaru.

(ii) All appeals and applications for review and enhancement petitions arising from the districts of Tiruchirapalli, Pudukottai, Madurai*, Anna*, Kamarajar*, Ramanathapuram*, Pasumpon Muthuramalingam*, Tirunelveli-Kattabomman*, Chidambaranar* and Kanyakumari* shall be presented to the Secretary at Madurai.

*Note. These Districts are bifurcated or renamed as Thiruchirappali, Perambalur, Karur, Ariyalur, Pudukootai, Madurai, Dindigul, Virudunagar, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Theni, Thirunelveli.

(iii) All appeals and applications for review and enhancement petitions arising from the districts of Coimbatore*, Nilgiris, Salem* and Dharmapuri* shall be presented to the Secretary at Coimbatore.

*Note. These Districts are bifurcated as Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Namkkal, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri.

(3)     When an appeal is presented by a legal practitioner or an authorised representative, it shall be accompanied by a vakalat-nama, or authorisation in Form XIII or XIV, as the case may be, appended to the rules appointing him as such.

Note. Form XIII or XIV is now Form SS appended to the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Rules, 2007.

(4)     Every such appeal shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the Act, the rules and these regulations and shall except when an application for review is preferred by the State Government, be accompanied by a Government Treasury challan in support of having paid the fee as prescribed by sub-rule (1)(c) of rule 29.

Note. Now, see rule 23 of the TNVAT Rules, 2007.

(5)     An appeal preferred by an assessee shall specify the State of Tamil Nadu as the respondent; it shall also furnish the name and the address of the party to whom notice may be sent.

Regulation - 7. Registration of appeals.

(1)     On receipt of an appeal, the Secretary shall endorse on it the date of its receipt. The Secretary shall, thereafter, as soon as possible, examine

(i)       whether the person presenting it has the authority to do so; and

(ii)      whether it conforms to the provisions of the Act, the rules and these regulations. If the Secretary is satisfied on these points, he shall cause it to be registered in a register to be kept for the purpose.

(2)     If the Secretary finds that the appeal does not prima facie fall under section 36(1) of the Act, he shall report to the Chairman who may either reject the appeal and order the papers to be returned to the party or fix a date for hearing the matter before the Tribunal after giving notice to the party and the State Representative and thereupon the provisions of regulation 7(5) below shall apply.

Note Section 36(1) of TNGST Act is now section 58(1) of the TNVAT Act, 2006.

(3)     If the Secretary finds that the appeal does not conform to the requirements of the Act, the rules and these regulations, he shall call upon the party by a notice in Form A in the Schedule to these regulations to remedy the defect or defects within a reasonable period specified by him. The Secretary may, for sufficient cause, extend the period. If the defect or defects are remedied within the period allowed, the Secretary shall cause the appeal to be registered.

(4)     When an appeal is re-presented without remedying the defects either within the period allowed or after the period allowed and where, in the opinion of the Secretary it is considered that before admitting an appeal it is necessary to have the matter, decided by the Tribunal, he shall make a report to that effect to the Chairman who may either reject the appeal or fix a date for hearing the matter and give due notice of such hearing to the party and the State Representative in Form "B" in the Schedule:

Provided that where an appeal is re-presented after the period allowed, it shall be accompanied by a petition supported by an affidavit setting forth the facts, on which the appellant relies to satisfy the Tribunal that he has sufficient cause for not representing the appeal within such period. Such appeal shall not be admitted unless notice has been given to the respondent and his objections have been heard and the Tribunal is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not re-presenting the appeal in time.

(5)     On the date so fixed, the Appellate Tribunal shall, after hearing the party and the State Representative, pass orders directing either the registration of the appeal or its rejection. Where the appeal is rejected, the Appellate Tribunal shall record its reasons for doing so.

(6)     Where an appeal is presented after the period prescribed under the Act, it shall be accompanied by a petition supported by an affidavit setting forth the facts on which the appellant relies to satisfy the Tribunal that he had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within such period. Such appeal shall not be admitted unless notice has been given to the respondent and his objections have been heard and the Tribunal is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal in time.

(7)     The appellants shall address the Secretary within a period of three months from the date of presentation or re-presentation of their appeals, as the case may be, to make sure whether their appeals presented have been registered if, by the time, they do not receive any communication in this regard from the Tribunal. The Tribunal shall not, thereafter, be responsible for any loss of appeal either in transit or otherwise.

Regulation - 8.

As soon as may be after the registration of the appeal, the Secretary shall set a date for hearing and shall send an intimation thereof to the State Representative in Form C in the Schedule. A copy of the memorandum of appeal and of the order appealed from shall also be furnished to him. It shall be the duty of the State Representative to obtain the records of the case from the Appellate Assistant Commissioner or the Deputy Commissioner[1], as the case may be, and transmit them to the Secretary.

Regulation - 9.

(1)     After the appeal has been registered, notice of the day fixed for hearing under regulation 8 shall be delivered or issued to the party in Form C in the Schedule. The notice shall state that if he does not appear on the day so fixed or on any other day to which the hearing may be adjourned, the appeal will be dismissed for default or disposed of on merits ex parte.

(2)     Where an appeal has been dismissed for default or disposed of ex parte, the appellant may apply to the Tribunal for re-admission of the appeal, and where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Tribunal that he was prevented by sufficient cause from appearing when the appeal was called on for hearing, the Tribunal shall re-admit the appeal.

(3)     An application for re-admission of an appeal dismissed for default or disposed of ex parte, shall be made within thirty days from the date of communication of the order of the dismissal:

Provided that the Tribunal shall have power to excuse the delay beyond the above period if it is satisfied that the petitioner had sufficient cause for not making the application in time.

Regulation - 10. Petition for order under section 36(5).

A petition for orders under section 36(5) shall ordinarily be presented in person by the party or sent by post to the Secretary; provided that an appeal has been filed and the prescribed fee paid -thereon, the Tribunal shall hear and decide the petition on merits.

Note. Section 36(5) of TNGST Act is now section 58(6) of TNVAT Act, 2006.

Regulation - 11.

(1)     The additional Members referred to in sub-section (1-A) of section 30 shall be the Members of Additional Benches of the Appellate Tribunal either at Chennai, Madurai or Coimbatore.

Note. Section 30(1-A) of TNGST Act is now section 50(2) of TNVAT Act, 2006.

(2)     The Additional Bench of the Appellate Tribunal at Madurai shall have jurisdiction in respect of appeals and applications for review arising from the districts of Tiruchirapalli, Pudukottai, Madurai, Anna, Kamarajar, Ramanathapuram, Pasumpon Muthuramalingam, Tirunelveli-Kattabomman, Chidambaranar and Kanyakumari.

Note. The districts mentioned in this sub-regulation were bifurcated and named as Tiruchirappalli, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Pudukkottai, Madurai, Virudunagar, Thoothukudi, Sivagangai, Dindical, Theni, Thirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts.

(3)     The Additional Bench of the Appellate Tribunal at Coimbatore shall have jurisdiction in respect of appeals and applications for review arising from the districts of Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Salem and Dharmapuri:

Notes. The districts mentioned in this sub-regulation were bifurcated as Coimbatore, Erode, Dharmapuri Krishnagiri and Nilgiris districts.

Provided that if in the opinion of the said Benches at Chennai, Madurai or Coimbatore, any appeal or application for review filed before them should be considered by a Bench of three Members, of whom the Chairman is one, they may refer the case to the Chairman and the Chairman may transfer such appeal or application for review for hearing by the Bench of three members at Chennai:

Provided further that the Chairman may transfer cases from one Bench to another if for administrative reasons such transfer appears to him to be necessary.

CHAPTER IV HEARING, ADJOURNMENT AND JUDGMENT

Regulation - 11A. Procedure of the hearing.

On the date fixed for hearing or any other date to which the hearing may be adjourned, the party shall ordinarily be heard first in support of his appeal or application for review. The respondent or a legal practitioner appointed by the respondent or an authorized representative shall, if necessary, be heard next, and in such cases, the party shall be entitled to reply.

Regulation - 12. Fresh evidence and witness.

(1)     The party or the respondent shall not be entitled to produce additional evidence, whether oral or documentary, before the Tribunal, but if

(a)      the authority from whose order the appeal is preferred has refused to admit evidence which ought to have been admitted, or

(b)      the party or respondent seeking to adduce additional evidence satisfies the Appellate Tribunal that such evidence notwithstanding the exercise of due diligence was not within his knowledge or could not be produced by him at or before the time when the order under appeal was passed, or

(c)      the Appellate Tribunal requires any documents to be produced or any witness to be examined to enable it to pass order or for any other substantial cause, the Appellate Tribunal may allow such evidence or document to be produced or witness examined:

Provided that the other party shall, in such cases, be entitled to produce rebutting evidence, if any.

(2)     If the Appellate Tribunal is of opinion that any witness should be examined in connection with any case before it, it may, instead of examining him before itself, issue a commission to any Appellate Assistant Commissioner[2] for examining the witness in the presence of the other side who will have the right of cross-examination.

Regulation - 13. Adjournment.

The Appellate Tribunal may on such terms as it thinks fit, and at any stage, adjourn the hearing of any appeal.

Regulation - 14. Procedure in case of death of appellant.

If an appellant dies while the appeal is pending and it cannot be proceeded with unless his legal representative is brought on record, the Appellate Tribunal shall adjourn further proceedings to enable his legal representative to appear and apply for being made a party. If the legal representative fails to do so within ninety days from the date on which the appellant died, the appeal shall abate as regards the deceased.

Regulation - 15. Procedure in case of death of respondent.

If a respondent dies while application for review is pending and it cannot be proceeded with unless his legal representative is brought on record, the applicant shall apply to the Appellate Tribunal for making the legal representative of such respondent a party to the application for review within ninety days from the date on which the respondent died. If the applicant fails to do so, the application shall abate as regards the deceased.

Regulation - 16. No abatement by reason of death after hearing.

Notwithstanding anything contained in regulations 14 and 15, there shall be no abatement by reason of the death of any party or respondent between the conclusion of the hearing and the passing of the order, but the order may, in such case, be passed notwithstanding the death and shall have the same force and effect as if it had been passed before the death took place.

Regulation - 17. Determination of legal representative.

If a question arises in any appeal whether a person is or is not the legal representative of a deceased appellant or respondent, such question may be determined by the Appellate Tribunal in a summary way, if necessary, after taking evidence.

Regulation - 18. Procedure in case of assignment.

If during the pendency of an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal, the business of any dealer who is a party thereto is assigned to, or devolves upon some other person either wholly or in part, the Appellate Tribunal may, on application of such assignee or such person on whom the business devolves, add such a person as a party to the appeal.

Regulation - 19. Procedure in case of insolvency.

If a dealer, who is a party to an appeal becomes insolvent and his estate becomes vested in the Assignee or Receiver, the latter may, by leave of the Appellate Tribunal, be made a party to the appeal.

Regulation - 20. Abatement or dismissal for failure of legal representative, etc., to apply in time may be set aside.

Whenever an order of abatement or dismissal has been passed in case where the appellant has deceased, his legal representative, in case where the respondent has deceased, the appellant and, in case where the appellant becomes insolvent and his estate becomes vested in the Assignee or Receiver, such Assignee or Receiver may, within sixty days from the date of communication of such order, apply to the Appellate Tribunal for setting aside the abatement or dismissal and the Appellate Tribunal shall, on sufficient cause being shown to its satisfaction, set aside such abatement or dismissal and proceed with the appeal.

Regulation - 21. Order.

Every order of the Appellate Tribunal shall be in writing.

Regulation - 22. Unanimous or majority order.

Where the order is unanimous, it shall be signed and dated by all the Members of the Tribunal. Where it is an order of the majority, it shall be similarly signed and dated by the Members forming the majority. The dissenting Member shall also write his order and record his opinion on the point on which he dissents. Where it is an order of the single Member of the Appellate Tribunal under section 30(3)(a) (iv) of the Act, it shall be signed and dated by him.

Note. Section 30(3)(a) (iv) of TNGST Act is now section 50(4)(a)(iii) of TNVAT Act, 2006.

Where it is an order of a Bench consisting of two members of the Appellate Tribunal under section 30(3)(a)(ii) of the Act, it shall be signed and dated by both the Members of the Appellate Tribunal, if the order is unanimous. Where the Members are divided in their opinion on any point, the point shall be referred for decision to a Bench consisting of three Members of whom the Chairman shall be one.

Note Section 30(3)(a) (ii) of TNGST Act is now section 50(4)(a) (ii) of TNVAT Act, 2006.

Regulation - 23. Communication of the order.

The Appellate Tribunal shall communicate the order to the assessee, the State representative, the assessing authority, the authority from whose order the appeal was preferred, the concerned Deputy Commissioner[3] if he is not such authority and the Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes[4].

Regulation - 24. Application for review and enhancement petition.

Insofar as they are not inconsistent, these regulations shall apply with suitable modifications to applications for review and enhancement petitions.

Regulation - 25. Return of exhibits.

(a)      The parties or respondents, other than the State representative, should apply for the return of the documents filed by them within three months from the date of communication of the Tribunal's orders, and, if no such application is made within such period, the Tribunal shall not be responsible for any loss or damage to the documents. The application shall contain an undertaking to the effect that such documents shall be produced before the Tribunal whenever required by it.

(b)      The records of the case and such other documents as may be produced by the State Representative shall, after the disposal of the case, be returned to him along with the order of the Tribunal on the case and his acknowledgement obtained.

CHAPTER V MISCELLANEOUS

Regulation - 26.

The Appellate Tribunal shall, not later than the 10th day of every month, submit to the High Court a statement in Form F in the Schedule, showing the number of appeals adjourned by it during the previous month in which the question of law involved is directly and substantially the same as in an appeal previously decided by it and against which a revision petition in the High Court or an appeal in the Supreme Court against the order of the High Court thereon is pending.

Application for copies

Regulation - 27. Copies of documents on payment of fees.

(1)     Any party or respondent in appeal or an application for review before the Appellate Tribunal may apply to the Secretary for the inspection of any document or for a certified copy of any document including the order in the record of appeal or application for review.

(2)     Application for copies shall be accompanied by copy stamp papers of the value of seventy paise each. The charges for copying shall be calculated as follows:

Both sides of the copy stamp paper shall be used. A maximum of 175 words may be written on the first (embossed) page of the copy stamp paper and the copying fee of this page shall be 70 paise. A maximum of 240 words may be written on the reverse side of the copy stamp paper and the copying fee to be charged for this side shall be 70 paise when the number of words written does not exceed 175 and 90 paise when the number of words written exceeds 175. When the reverse side of the copy stamp paper is used, adhesive Court-fee stamps of that appropriate value shall be affixed at the top right hand corner of that side and space shall be left at the top left hand corner for the endorsement of the Copyist.

(3)     If the Secretary feels any doubt about the propriety of granting a copy of any such document, he shall place the application before the Chairman and act in accordance with his orders.

Note. A Court-fee stamp of the value of twenty-five paise shall be affixed to all applications for -copies.

Search

Regulation - 28. Application for search.

Every person requiring a search to be made among the records of the Appellate Tribunal for the purpose either of inspecting documents or of obtaining copy thereof shall apply to the Secretary in Form E.

Regulation - 29. Scale of search fees.

When the document applied for belongs to a year previous to the current calendar year, a search fee, in Court-fee stamps, must be affixed to the application, according to the following scale:

(a)      Fee payable for the first document or entry applied for, or, if only one document or entry is applied for, then for that document or entry One rupee.

(b)      Fee payable for every document or entry other than the first included in the same application and connected with the same subject Fifty paise.

(c)      When the applicant does not know to which of two or more years a document or entry belongs, the fee for searching the records of every year other than the first shall be fifty paise.

Note.

(1)     A separate application need not be presented in respect of each document for which a search is required. Enclosures or annexures to letters, accounts or other documents form part of the documents to which they appertain and are not reckoned, for the purpose of search as separate documents.

(2)     Only one search fee of one rupee, need be paid for all the papers filed together and forming a single record. For instance, if a person applies for all the depositions relating to one case, he need only pay fee of one rupee.

(3)     Search fees shall not be levied on application for return of documents.

Miscellaneous

Regulation - 30.

Form A to D with suitable modifications, wherever necessary, shall be used for the purpose of the notice to be issued by the Appellate Tribunal.

Regulation - 31. Service of the notice on Government.

Notices served on the State Representative will be deemed to be sufficient notice to Government.

Regulation - 32. Service of notice in general.

(1)     The notices required to be issued under the Act or the rules or these regulations shall be served in the manner prescribed in rule 52 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Rules, 1959. An acknowledgement containing the signature of the addressee, or the legal practitioner appointed to represent the addressee, before the Tribunal or of the authorised representative of the addressee or an endorsement by the postal authorities to the effect that the notice was refused by the addressee shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be sufficient to hold that the notice was duly served.

(2)     Where the Appellate Tribunal is satisfied that the addressee is evading service or that it is not possible to serve the notice in the ordinary way, it may direct that a copy of the notice shall be affixed on its Notice Board and another copy on the outer door or some other conspicuous part of the addressee's office or place of business or residence last notified by him.

Regulation - 33. Officers of the Tribunal.

The powers and authorities which under these or other rules or under the practice of the Appellate Tribunal, are exercisable by the Secretary (except such as may, from time to time, be expressly excepted by the Chairman), may be exercised by the Manager of the Office of the Appellate Tribunal.

Regulation - 34. Delegation of powers by Chairman.

The Chairman may, in writing, delegate his powers under these regulations to one of the other Members during his absence on leave or otherwise.