Supreme Court Rules : Illegal or Perverse Order is Not Always Mala Fide
Supreme Court Rules : Illegal or Perverse Order is Not Always Mala Fide
The Supreme Court stated that a statutory authority’s erroneous, illegal, or even perverse order/action cannot be considered lacking in good faith or mala fide in and of itself.
Something more than mere error or fault should exist for imputing motivations and drawing inferences about lack of good faith in any individual, particularly a statutory authority, the Supreme Court observed.
The Joint Commissioner, Commercial Tax, Moradabad, has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn several negative observations and remarks in an Allahabad High Court order. In its decision, the High Court stated that his actions, which resulted in ex parte orders/proceedings without proper notice, were a deliberate attempt on the part of the department, and that the Assessing Authority used unfair tactics to get the service effected in violation of the applicable rules.
The bench, which included Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Aniruddha Bose, noted that even if the High Court found such attempts to serve notices to be improper or irregular, the conclusion that the impugned activities were purposeful or lacking in good faith is difficult to accept.
