KOCHI, 10 NOV: A pharmaceutical company that approached the Kerala High Court challenging a sales tax penalty imposed on a consignment of gifts for doctors during Diwali was directed to withdraw its petition by the court.
When the petition by New Delhi-based Mankind Pharma Ltd came up before Justice S Siri Jagan, the court asked the company to withdraw the petition as it supports the unhealthy practice of rewarding doctors for enforcing medicines on patients.
The company had sent dinnerware worth Rs 10 lakh in a lorry from their Meerut office to Kochi. The lorry was intercepted by an intelligence squad of the commercial taxes department and fined Rs 2.52 lakh for not having remitted sales tax.
The pharma company had challenged the fine imposed, claiming that the 520 pieces of dinnerware were not meant for sale but for distribution to doctors and their employees as part of a promotional scheme on the occasion of Diwali. The value of the goods as stated in the documents arises out of insurance and is not its real value, the company claimed.
The commercial taxes department had directed the company to furnish a security deposit by way of bank guarantee. In the petition, the company stated that the inspecting authority at the Muthanga checkpost had released its goods without collecting security deposit.
In the petition, the company had also challenged the penalty citing violation of Article 19 of the Constitution and right to do interstate business. However, the court rejected the company's claims outright and asked it to withdraw the petition.
When the petition by New Delhi-based Mankind Pharma Ltd came up before Justice S Siri Jagan, the court asked the company to withdraw the petition as it supports the unhealthy practice of rewarding doctors for enforcing medicines on patients.
The company had sent dinnerware worth Rs 10 lakh in a lorry from their Meerut office to Kochi. The lorry was intercepted by an intelligence squad of the commercial taxes department and fined Rs 2.52 lakh for not having remitted sales tax.
The pharma company had challenged the fine imposed, claiming that the 520 pieces of dinnerware were not meant for sale but for distribution to doctors and their employees as part of a promotional scheme on the occasion of Diwali. The value of the goods as stated in the documents arises out of insurance and is not its real value, the company claimed.
The commercial taxes department had directed the company to furnish a security deposit by way of bank guarantee. In the petition, the company stated that the inspecting authority at the Muthanga checkpost had released its goods without collecting security deposit.
In the petition, the company had also challenged the penalty citing violation of Article 19 of the Constitution and right to do interstate business. However, the court rejected the company's claims outright and asked it to withdraw the petition.
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