GST
GST Notice To Amalgamated Company That Ceased To Exist Without Jurisdiction: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court has recently quashed a GST order against a real estate company. It held that a show cause notice issued after the company had ceased to exist pursuant to its amalgamation was without jurisdiction, making the proceedings that followed legally unsustainable. A division bench of Justice Suman Shyam and Justice Advait M. Sethna allowed the writ petition filed by Kanakia Spaces Realty Private Limited and set aside the Order-in-Original passed by the GST authorities. The bench...
Transit State Lacks Jurisdiction To Levy GST Penalty Without Taxable Transaction: Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court has held that a State through which goods merely transit cannot invoke Section 129 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, to detain goods and levy penalty for the absence of an e-tax invoice where no taxable transaction takes place within that State. A Division Bench of Justices Saumitra Dayal Singh and Swarupama Chaturvedi on 14 May allowed a writ petition filed by Maruti Enterprises and connected matters, holding that the Uttar Pradesh GST authorities lacked...
Gujarat AAR Rules Compensation Recovered From Transporters For Transit Losses Not Liable To GSR
The Gujarat Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) has recently ruled that compensation recovered by a business from transporters for injury, loss or damage suffered during the transportation of goods is not liable to Goods and Services Tax (GST). It held that such recoveries compensate the business for the injury, loss or damage suffered and are not consideration for a taxable supply. The ruling was delivered by a two-member bench comprising CGST Member Sushma and SGST Member Vishal Malani on an...
Gujarat AAR Rules Yoga Camps Conducted By Banaskantha-Based Charitable Trust Exempt From GST
The Gujarat Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) has ruled that yoga camps conducted by Sanskar Foundation qualify as charitable activities and are exempt from GST. It observed that the advancement of religion, spirituality, or yoga falls within the scope of the exemption available to eligible charitable entities. The exemption, however, is subject to the applicant holding a valid registration under Section 12AB of the Income Tax Act. A two-member bench comprising CGST Member Sushma and SGST...
GST Registration Cannot Be Cancelled Through Cryptic, Non-Speaking Orders: Gauhati High Court
The Gauhati High Court has recently set aside an order cancelling a taxpayer's GST registration, holding that an adjudicating authority cannot pass a cryptic and non-speaking order that carries adverse civil consequences. The court observed that even where a taxpayer fails to respond to a show cause notice, the statutory authority remains under an obligation to provide reasons and demonstrate application of mind while cancelling registration. "If an order is passed without giving a proper...
GST Writ Petition Not Maintainable After Statutory Appeal Limitation Expires: Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court has held that a taxpayer cannot invoke writ jurisdiction to bypass the statutory limitation period prescribed for filing an appeal under the GST Act, refusing to entertain a challenge to an assessment order filed after the expiry of the appellate limitation period. A Division Bench comprising Justices Shekhar B. Saraf and Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary dismissed a writ petition filed by Mishra Security Services, holding that entertaining the petition would undermine the...
GST Proceedings Maintainable Against Heirs Even Without Action During Taxpayer's Lifetime: Madras HC
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on 16 June held that Section 93 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 permits GST authorities to initiate proceedings against the legal heirs of a deceased taxpayer even if no proceedings were initiated during the taxpayer's lifetime. Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy dismissed a writ petition filed by V. Damayanti, wife of the late V. Vasudevan, proprietor of Vasu Chemicals, challenging proceedings initiated after Vasudevan's death. He held:...
Delhi High Court Issues Notice On Plea Seeking Extension Of GSTAT Appeal Deadline, Refuses Interim Relief
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice on a plea filed by the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) Bar Association, Delhi, challenging the June 30, 2026 deadline for filing appeals before the GSTAT in respect of orders communicated prior to April 1, 2026 and seeking extension of the filing period by at least three months from June 15, 2026, when the e-filing procedure was formally explained to stakeholders.However, the court declined to grant any interim relief at this stage. A vacation bench...
Madras High Court Upholds GST Proceedings Over Mismatch Between Seigniorage Fees and Reported Turnover
The Madras High Court has upheld GST proceedings against a quarry operator. It held that a mismatch between seigniorage fees paid for mineral extraction and the value of outward supplies reported in GST returns was sufficient to justify the tax department's prima facie view that turnover had been suppressed. Justice C. Saravanan dismissed writ petitions filed by KPR Enterprises for the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 tax periods. "Since the petitioner has paid a huge amount for the seigniorage...
Service Tax Cannot Be Levied By Treating Maintenance Of Minimum Balance As Consideration For Banking Services: Karnataka HC
The Karnataka High court has held that maintenance of a Minimum Average Balance (MAB) in a bank account is merely a contractual condition and cannot be treated as "consideration" for banking services so as to attract service tax. A bench of Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar quashed show-cause notices issued to Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda (formerly Vijaya Bank), Karnataka Bank and another bank over the proposed levy of service tax on facilities extended to customers maintaining minimum balances in...
Hyderabad Cinema Hall Failed To Pass On GST Cut Benefit To Viewers, GSTAT Delhi Upholds ₹9 Lakh Profiteering
The Principal Bench of the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) has upheld a finding against Hyderabad-based Vishwanath Cinema Hall 70MM that it profiteered by nearly ₹9 lakh after a GST rate cut on certain cinema tickets. Judicial Member Justice Mayank Kumar Jain rejected the cinema hall's objections and accepted the findings of the Director General of Anti-Profiteering (DGAP) According to the authority, the cinema hall profiteered ₹8.99 lakh for the period between January 1 and June 30, 2019. The...
Absence Of Signature On GST Assessment Order Renders It Legally Invalid: Andhra Pradesh High Court
On 15 June, the Andhra Pradesh High Court held that an unsigned GST assessment order suffers from an inherent legal defect and cannot be sustained in law, reaffirming that statutory orders must bear proper authentication to be enforceable. A Division Bench of Justices R. Raghunandan Rao and T.C.D. Sekhar set aside the impugned assessment order while allowing the writ petition filed by Nominee Works Committee Kalavalla and remanded the matter for fresh adjudication. The judges held: “This Court...