JOIN USA Division Bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice A S Bopanna, while appreciating the action taken report submitted by the Department, directed the government to share the information with the petitioners. The court was hearing a public interest litigation by Bhavani Ramprasad and Manjula Bhavani.
“We are not interested in other aspects of distribution of licences, but what we want from the government is to curb the illegal sale of alcohol,” the Bench noted.
The petitioners pointed out that the Supreme Court has clearly prohibited sale of alcohol without valid licence from a competent authority. The petition was disposed of with a liberty to the petitioners to approach the court if action taken was not sufficient.
Attachment notice
The HC has quashed the attachment notice issued by the Karnataka Commercial Taxes department asking Wipro Technologies to pay Rs 24 crore as value-added tax (VAT).
The department had demanded Rs 48 cr as VAT for the period between April 2006 to March 2009. However, the petitioner company had paid fifty percent of the amount to the department and challenged the demand notice issued before the Tax Appellate Tribunal.
The Department issued an attachment notice during the pendency of the appeal. Justice Ashok B Hinchegeri quashed the notice passed by the Assistant Commissioner of Central Taxes.