The Madras High Court has set aside a VAT liability imposed on a deceased individual and his representatives, stating the submission of forged signatures by the estranged son-in law in Form F with the counter statement.
A writ petition was filed to quash the recovery notice dated July 17, 2018, which sought to recover tax arrears for the assessment years 2014-15 to 2016-17. The arrears were attributed to the business activities of the petitioner’s estranged son-in-law, Mr. M. Veerasekar.
The petitioner, aged 86 at the time of filing the writ petition, had rented out his premises to his son-in-law through a rental agreement dated April 22, 2013. However, the property was shown as mortgaged to secure tax liabilities of ₹1,00,000, allegedly without the petitioner’s consent.
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During the proceedings, it was revealed that the petitioner and his wife’s signatures on Form F were forged. Supporting documents, including a General Power of Attorney and a sale deed, stated the discrepancies in the signatures when compared to genuine documents.
The court noted that Form F, dated April 12, 2013, bore a notarial seal dated April 22, 2013, raising questions about its authenticity. It was further observed that the petitioner’s wife, Mrs. S. Selvi, who signed documents exclusively in English, could not have signed the Tamil document in question. The court held that the signatures were clear imitations and deemed the document inadmissible for fastening tax liability.
Justice C. Saravanan allowed the writ petition, releasing the petitioner and his legal representatives from the VAT liability. However, it left the door open for the Commercial Tax Department to pursue recovery from the petitioner’s estranged son-in-law under the Tamil Nadu VAT Act, 2006, and the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956.
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