(FE)
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking setting aside of the Allahabad High Court’s decision that had asked it to pay Rs 5,600 crore towards interest on deferred entry tax payable between 2001 and 2012 to the Uttar Pradesh government.
A Bench led by Justice AK Sikri posted the matter for further hearing on December 6. Challenging the HC judgment of May 4 that upheld the constitutional validity of the UP Tax on Entry of Goods into Local Areas Act, 2007, IOC said it had accepted the impugned judgment with regard to the constitutional validity of levying the entry tax and already deposited Rs 8,779.67 crore towards the same. However, it challenged the assessment orders for assessment years 2000-12 which asked it to shell out Rs 5,600 crore as interest on the entry tax paid. “Such imposition of interest is unlawful and without any authority of law. The UP government is coercing the PSU to pay huge sums to the tune of around `5,600 crore,” solicitor general Tushar Mehta said.
According to the PSU, there is no substantive provision in the Entry Tax Act for levy of interest on traders and it should not be burdened with a huge liability towards interest when the apex court in 2016, while upholding the levy of entry tax by states, did not say anything on the interest issue.
