LI Network
Published on: October 30, 2023 at 16:37 IST
The Allahabad High Court has held that the family of a deceased registered dealer under the Uttar Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2008, is entitled to claim insurance money under the Group Insurance Policy if the dealer’s registration was still in force at the time of his death.
A bench comprising Justices Saumitra Dayal Singh and Surendra Singh-I issued the ruling, stating: “If the deceased held a registration certificate prior to the occurrence of his death and that registration did not stand cancelled on the date of occurrence of his death, the status of the deceased would remain to be that of a registered dealer for the purpose of the Group Insurance Policy.”
The petitioner, in this case, asserted that her late husband had been a registered dealer under the UPVAT Act, and his registration remained valid at the time of his death. Consequently, she claimed an insurance payout of Rs. 5,00,000 as per the Group Insurance Policy established by the State Government for the benefit of registered dealers, based on a circular issued by the Commissioner, Commercial Tax, U.P., Lucknow, on March 30, 2013.
The State, however, argued that the deceased had applied for the cancellation of his registration before his death, and although the order was uploaded after his passing, it had been processed. The petitioner countered this by asserting that the registration was canceled after her husband’s death, and thus, he was a registered dealer at the time of his demise.
The Court, in granting relief to the deceased dealer’s wife, criticized the authorities for failing to consider the application for registration cancellation and remanded the case to be reevaluated in light of this application. Additionally, the Court stated that if it is determined that the registration was still valid at the time of the dealer’s death, the insurance money should be disbursed to the petitioner.
Case Title: Rina Rani Rustogi v. State Of U.P. And 4 Others – WRIT TAX No. 1044 of 2018