Ex-Parte Order Served After Years: Madras HC Restores 2002 Sales Tax Appeal Citing Extraordinary Delay [Read Order]

The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has restored a long pending sales tax appeal after finding that an ex-parte order, passed years earlier but communicated much later, with an unusually prolonged pendency before the Tribunal, constituted sufficient cause for condoning the delay in approaching the Court.

Tvl. Perambalur Sugar Mills Limited, the appellant, was subjected to assessment proceedings under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 for the assessment year 1995-1996 through an order issued on 30.03.1999. The Department pursued further proceedings, and the matter was taken in appeal before the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal in M.T.S.A. No.1017 of 2002. That appeal remained pending across different Benches for nearly 18 years before being decided ex-parte on 18.08.2015.

The appellant filed a Miscellaneous Petition seeking restoration under Regulation 9(2) of the Tamil Nadu Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal Regulations, 1959, but this petition was dismissed on 12.05.2017. Significantly, the dismissal order was served on the appellant only on 1.12.2020, leading to the filing of a writ petition on 31.03.2021.

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The papers were returned on 19.04.2021 for rectification, after which Covid-19 disruptions and the flooding of counsel’s chambers resulted in the destruction of the case bundles. When recovery proceedings resumed in June 2025, the appellant discovered that the earlier writ petition could not be revived and therefore filed a fresh writ petition, which was dismissed, prompting the present appeal.

The Bench comprising Justice Anita Sumanth and Justice C. Kumarappan noted that the appeal had remained pending before the Tribunal from 2002 to 2020, was disposed of ex-parte, and the order rejecting restoration was communicated only in 2020, creating an inherently prejudicial delay.

They further observed that the Covid-19 disruptions, flooding of counsel’s chambers, and loss of case bundles were compelling reasons for the appellant’s inability to re-present the returned writ petition. While acknowledging that the appellant did not pursue the matter actively between 2023-2025, the Court ruled that the cumulative circumstances warranted extending the benefit of doubt.

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The High Court therefore allowed the writ appeal, restored M.T.S.A. No.1017 of 2002 to the file of the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal. The Tribunal was directed to dispose of the appeal on merits within six weeks from the hearing date.

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