State of Kerala v Hotel Veeyemmar International (P) Ltd.

Case Details & Bench

Court: High Court of Kerala
Hon'ble Judges: S. V. Bhatti
Basant Balaji
Judgment Date: 2022-11-29
Court Decision / Holding: ST revisions are allowed as above. The matter is remitted to the Tribunal for re-consideration and disposal by the law; merits are left open for consideration by the Tribunal.
Final Disposition: Remanded to the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal for re-consideration; revisions allowed; merits left open for consideration by the Tribunal; remand to be disposed of in accordance with law.

Parties to the Case

Appellants / Petitioners

State of Kerala

Respondents

Hotel Veeyemmar International (P) Ltd.

Legal Representation & Advocates

Counsels for Petitioners

• M.M. Jasmin (Government Pleader)

Counsels for Respondents

• M. Jayakrishnan
• Bharath Murali
• Radhakrishnan Pillai B

Case Synopsis & Summary

These Sales Tax Revision petitions (ST.Rev. Nos. 13, 14 and 15 of 2021) are before the Kerala High Court in a common order by Justices S. V. Bhatti and Basant Balaji. The revisions challenge orders of the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal (Additional Bench, Kozhikode) arising from assessments of Hotel Veeyemmar International (P) Ltd. for the years 2010-11 and 2011-12 under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963. The core issue concerns whether the Annexure-A assessment order was barred by appeal/limitation and whether the Tribunal erred in relying on a judgment later reversed by this Court (Commercial Tax Officer v Hotel Breezeland Ltd), a point stressed by the State. The State contends that the finding of limitation is a question of fact to be independently determined, and that the Tribunal’s reliance on the Breezeland ratio was misplaced. The Court, while agreeing with the State’s argument that remand is warranted, sets aside the Tribunal’s order and remits the matter for fresh consideration according to law, leaving merits open for adjudication by the Tribunal. The revisions are allowed, with annexures detailing assessment orders and appellate/trial tribunal orders. The dispute concerns the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 and related revision proceedings.

Provisions of Law Cited

Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963

Submissions & Arguments

Contentions of Appellants / Petitioners

The State argued that the Tribunal recorded a finding that the order in Annexure-A is barred by limitation. The finding of fact on limitation is a matter to be independently considered. The Commissioner and the Tribunal relied on a judgment reversed by this Court in Commercial Tax Officer v Hotel Breezeland Ltd, hence the matter requires re-consideration by the Tribunal. The State urged remand after setting aside the Tribunal’s order, so that the matter can be disposed of in accordance with law, with merits left open for consideration.

Contentions of Respondents

Not explicitly detailed in the document. The court notes that the sole argument recorded was that of the State’s counsel; no separate respondent’s argument is set out in the order.

Cited Precedents (2)

Case Name	Citation	Treatment	Explanation
Hotel Breezeland Ltd.	2019(2) KLT 432	Overruled	The judgment notes that the Tribunal relied on a judgment (Hotel Breezeland) which was reversed by this Court in Commercial Tax Officer v Hotel Breezeland Ltd; hence the Breezeland ratio is not good law.
Commercial Tax Officer v Hotel Breezeland Ltd.	Not provided	Mentioned Only	Cited to indicate that the Hotel Breezeland ratio was reversed by this Court; it is referenced as a background without being treated as binding in the current decision.

Extracted Judgment Text

Exact text extracted from official judgment records.

# **`IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE S.V.BHATTI`** ``` & ``` ``` THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE BASANT BALAJI ``` ``` TUESDAY, THE 29[TH] DAY OF NOVEMBER 2022 / 8TH AGRAHAYANA, 1944 ST.REV. NO. 13 OF 2021 ``` ``` AGAINST THE ORDER IN T.A.No.45/2018 OF S.T.A.TRIBUNAL, ADDITIONAL BENCH,KZD. ``` ## **`- REVISION PETITIONER: Respondent/Respondent/Revenue)`** ``` STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY THE JOINT COMMISSIONER OF STATE TAX (LAW), DEPARTMENT OF KERALA STATE GOODS AND SERVICE TAX, ERNAKULAM. BY ADV GOVERNMENT PLEADER M.M.Jasmin ``` ## **`RESPONDENT/(Appellant/Appellant/Assessee)`** ``` HOTEL VEEYEMMAR INTERNATIONAL (P) LTD. SUDEVAN ROAD, SULTANPET, PALAKKAD – 678 001. ``` ``` BY ADVS. M.JAYAKRISHNAN BHARATH MURALI FOR ADV.RADHAKRISHNAN PILLAI B ``` ``` THIS SALES TAX REVISION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 29.11.2022, ALONG WITH ST.Rev.14/2021, 15/2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: ``` S.T.Rev.Nos.13, 14 & 15 of 2021 -2- # **`IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM`** ## **`PRESENT`** ``` THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE S.V.BHATTI ``` ``` & ``` ``` THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE BASANT BALAJI ``` ``` TUESDAY, THE 29[TH] DAY OF NOVEMBER 2022 / 8TH AGRAHAYANA, 1944 ``` ``` ST.REV. NO. 14 OF 2021 ``` ## **`AGAINST THE ORDER IN TA NO.46/2018 OF AGRL.I.T.ADDITIONAL`** ``` BENCH,KOZHIKODE ``` ## **`REVISION PETITIONER(Respondent/Respondent/Revenue)`** ``` STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY THE JOINT COMMISSIONER OF STATE TAX (LAW), DEPARTMENT OF KERALA STATE GOODS AND SERVICE TAX, ERNAKULAM. ``` ``` BY GOVERNMENT PLEADER SMT.M.M.JASMIN ``` ## **`RESPONDENT/(Appellant/Appellant/Assessee)`** ``` HOTEL VEEYEMMAR INTERNATIONAL (P) LTD. SUDEVAN ROAD, SULTANPET, PALAKKAD-678 001 ``` ``` BY ADV BHARAT MURALI FOR ADV.RADHAKRISHNA PILLAI B ``` ``` THIS SALES TAX REVISION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 29.11.2022, ALONG WITH ST.Rev..13/2021 AND CONNECTED CASES, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: ``` S.T.Rev.Nos.13, 14 & 15 of 2021 -3- # **`IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM`** ## **`PRESENT`** ## **`THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE S.V.BHATTI`** ## **`&`** ``` THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE BASANT BALAJI ``` ``` TUESDAY, THE 29[TH] DAY OF NOVEMBER 2022 / 8TH AGRAHAYANA, 1944 ST.REV. NO. 15OF 2021 ``` ``` AGAINST THE ORDER IN TA No.53/2018 OF AGRL.I.T.ADDITIONAL BENCH,KOZHIKODE ``` ## **`REVISION PETITIONER:- (Respondent/Respondent/Revenue)`** ``` THE STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY THE JOINT COMMISSIONER OF STATE TAX (LAW), DEPARTMENT OF KERALA STATE GOODS AND SERVICE TAX, ERNAKULAM. ``` ``` BY ADV GOVERNMENT PLEADER M.M.JASMIN ``` ## **`RESPONDENT: (Appellant/Appellant/Assessee)`** ``` HOTEL VEEYEMMAR INTERNATIONAL PVT LTD., SUDEVAN ROAD, SULTANPET, PALAKKAD 678 001. BY ADV RADHAKRISHNA PILLAI B ``` ``` THIS SALES TAX REVISION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON ``` ``` 29.11.2022, ALONG WITH ST.Rev..13/2021 AND CONNECTED CASES, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: ``` S.T.Rev.Nos.13, 14 & 15 of 2021 -4- ## **S.V.BHATTI & BASANT BALAJI, JJ.** **---------------------------------------------** **S.T.Revision Nos.13, 14 and 15 of 2021** **---------------------------------------------** Dated this the 29th day of November 2022 ## **ORDER** ## _S.V.Bhatti, J._ We have heard Smt. M.M. Jasmin, learned counsel for the revision petitioner and Adv.Bharat Murali for Adv.Radhakrishna Pillai for the respondent. 2. State is the revision petitioner. Hotel Veeyemmar International (P) Ltd./a dealer registered under Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, is the respondent. Identical questions of law and similar circumstances are present for consideration in both revisions, hence are disposed of by this common order. 3. Learned Government Pleader Jasmine invited our attention to the order of the Tribunal. She contended that the Tribunal recorded a finding that the order in Annexure-A is barred by limitation. The finding of fact, whether it is within the time or barred by limitation, S.T.Rev.Nos.13, 14 & 15 of 2021 -5- is a matter to be independently considered, and secondly, the Commissioner and the Tribunal relied on a judgment reversed by this Court in Commercial Tax Officer v Hotel Breezeland Ltd.[1] Therefore the matters require re-consideration by the Tribunal. 4. We have perused the order of the Tribunal and the ratio laid down by this Court in _Hotel Breezeland_ case. We are in agreement with the sole argument advanced by the counsel for the State. As the argument is to have the matters remanded after setting aside the order under revisions, we have considered only whether remand is warranted. Hence we set aside the order of the Tribunal. Remit the matter to the Tribunal for re-consideration and disposal by the law. Merits are left open for consideration by the Tribunal. S.T. revisions are allowed as above. SD/- **S.V.BHATTI, JUDGE** SD/- **BASANT BALAJI, JUDGE** css/ 1 2019(2) KLT 432 S.T.Rev.Nos.13, 14 & 15 of 2021 -6- ## **`APPENDIX OF ST.REV. 14/2021`** ``` PETITIONER ANNEXURES Annexure A ``` ``` Annexure AA TRUE COPY OF THE ASSESSMENT ORDER PASSED FOR THE YEAR 2010-11 DATED 31/12/2013 Annexure BA TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER PASSED BY THE 1ST APPELLATE AUTHORITY IN STA NO.7/2014 DATED 24/12/2016 Annexure cA TRUE COPY OF THE COMMON ORDER PASSED BY THE SALE TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL IN T.A NO.45 AND 46 OF 2018 DATED 16/12/2020 ``` S.T.Rev.Nos.13, 14 & 15 of 2021 -7- ## **`APPENDIX OF ST.REV. 15/2021`** ``` PETITIONER ANNEXURES Annexure AA TRUE COPY OF THE ASSESSMENT ORDER PASSED FOR THE YEAR 2010-11 DATED 31.12.2013. Annexure BA TRUE COPY OF THE COMMON ORDER PASSED BY THE SALE TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL IN T.A. NO. 45 AND 46 OF 2018 DATED 16.12.2020. ``` ``` Annexure C ``` ``` Annexure D ``` ``` Annexure E ``` ``` A TRUE COPY OF THE ASSESSMENT ORDER PASSED FOR THE YEAR 2011-12 DATED 02.01.2014. ``` ``` A TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER PASSED BY THE 1ST APPELLATE AUTHORITY IN STA NO. 8/2014 DATED 24.12.2016. ``` ``` A TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER PASSED BY THE SALE TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL IN T.A. NO. 53 OF 2018 DATED 16.12.2020. ``` S.T.Rev.Nos.13, 14 & 15 of 2021 -8- ## **`APPENDIX OF ST.REV. 13/2021`** ``` PETITIONER ANNEXURES Annexure AA TRUE COPY OF THE ASSESSMENT ORDER PASSED FOR THE YEAR 2009-10 DATED 31.12.2013. Annexure BA TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER PASSED BY THE 1ST APPELLATE AUTHORITY IN STA NO.6/2014 DATED 24.12.2016. Annexure CA TRUE COPY OF THE COMMON ORDER PASSED BY THE SALE TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL IN T.A.NO.45 AND 46 OF 2018 DATED 16.12.2020. ```