Essar Files Petition Against Tax Order

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[<p>Essar Oil has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking to review a judgment that prevents the company from deferring payment of a sales tax, Essar said.<br><br>The petition seeks to review a ruling by India's top court in January that invalidated a judgment made by the Gujarat High Court in 2008. The earlier high court ruling permitted the company to pay the sales tax in deferred instalments.<br><br>Essar Oil, 87 per cent owned by London-listed Essar Energy, has deferred Rs 6,100.80 crore under a tax benefit provided by the government of Gujarat, where the company's Vadinar refinery is located.<br><br>Essar Energy lost around a quarter of its market value in a single session after the January ruling.<br><br>Shares in Essar Oil extended gains after the announcement on Thursday, rising as much as 3.3 per cent in a Mumbai market down 0.8 per cent.<br><br>(Reuters)</p>