Rajasthan High Court Upholds GST Penalty Order Despite Absence Of DIN, Says RFN Is Sufficient

The Rajasthan High Court has held that a GST order communicated through statutorily recognised modes such as the GST portal, registered post or e-mail cannot be invalidated merely because it does not mention a Document Identification Number (DIN), where the communication carries a verifiable Reference Number (RFN). “Once service has been effected in any of the recognised statutory modes, we are of the view that the requirement of lawful communication clearly stands satisfied,” a division bench...

Bombay High Court Directs Emirates To Pursue GST Appeal In Air Cargo Services Tax Dispute

The Bombay High Court recently disposed of a writ petition filed by Emirates challenging a GST demand order passed by the Maharashtra State Tax Department over taxation of air cargo transportation services. The airline argued that transportation of goods by aircraft from India to destinations outside India, along with ancillary services, formed part of a composite supply exempt from GST under a Central Government notification issued in 2018 granting exemption to export air cargo transportation...

No Fresh GST Demand For Same Amount Without Credit For Reversed ITC: Orissa HC Sets Aside Tax Demand

The Orissa High Court has set aside GST proceedings against an individual taxpayer, holding that once input tax credit (ITC) is reversed, the tax department cannot demand the same amount again without giving due credit for such reversal. “Once it is conceded by the Revenue that the amount of input tax credit for a sum of Rs.4,39,970/- has been reversed, raising demand to the same without giving due credit to such reversal is unethical and without authority of law. In such an event, since net...

University Affiliation, NOCs Not 'Supply', No GST On Statutory Functions: Andhra Pradesh High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, on 27 April, held that services provided by universities, such as grant of affiliation and issuance of No Objection Certificates (NOCs), are not liable to GST, as these activities are statutory in nature and do not qualify as “business” or “supply” under GST law. A Division Bench of Justices R. Raghunandan Rao and T.C.D. Sekhar, while hearing a batch of writ petitions including those filed by Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada and other similarly...

Jharkhand High Court Refuses To Entertain Writ Against Delayed GST Order, Cites Alternative Remedy

The Jharkhand High Court refused to entertain a writ petition challenging a GST adjudication order passed after a delay of five years, holding that the taxpayer must avail themselves of the statutory appellate remedy instead of invoking writ jurisdiction. A bench comprising Chief Justice M.S. Sonak and Justice Rajesh Shankar observed that where a statutory appeal is available, the High Court should not ordinarily entertain a writ petition. The Court noted, “Since the petitioner has an...

Bombay High Court Rules Damages Under Arbitral Award Not Taxable Under GST In Tata Sons–NTT Docomo Case

The Bombay High Court has held that the Rs. 8,450 crore paid by Tata Sons to NTT Docomo under an arbitral award cannot be subjected to GST.The payment arose from a dispute over Docomo's exit rights under a shareholders' agreement in Tata Teleservices, and the Court rejected the tax department's claim that it amounted to a taxable service. A Division Bench of Justices G.S. Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe was considering whether settlement of the arbitral award and the accompanying consent terms could...

Consolidated GST Show Cause Notices Across Multiple Years Permissible: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has recently ruled that GST authorities can issue a single show cause notice covering multiple financial years, settling a dispute over whether such notices must be confined to one year. The question before the court was, “Whether it would be permissible to issue consolidated/common show cause notice under Sections 73 and 74 of the Act covering multiple financial years or multiple tax periods?” Answering this, a bench of Justice S.G. Pandit and Justice K.V. Aravind...

Bombay High Court Quashes GST Demand On Mumbai University, Says Affiliation Not 'Supply' Of Service

The Bombay High Court has recently set aside a GST demand of Rs 16.90 crore on the University of Mumbai, holding that affiliation fees collected by the university are part of its statutory duties and not taxable. “Thus, having examined Section 7 and its purport in regard to its applicability in the context of the petitioner University receiving affiliation fee, in our opinion, there ought not to be any ambiguity that the collection of affiliation fees by the petitioner University in the...

Mere GST Deposit In Electronic Ledger Not Payment Until Appropriated To Government: Andhra Pradesh High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has recently held that merely depositing GST in the electronic ledger does not amount to payment to the Government, while setting aside a tax and penalty order against Sona Enterprises. "The provisions of Section 49(1) of the CGST Act read with Rule 87(6) & (7) of the CGST Rules makes it clear that the deposit of cash or the credit of input tax credit into the electronic ledger of the tax payer would not amount to payment of tax. Such payment of tax would...

Bombay High Court Allows GST Refund For Pre-July 5, 2022 Claims Under Revised Inverted Duty Formula

The Bombay High Court has granted a GST refund to a Joint Venture, which is executing Mumbai Metro works, holding that the revised refund formula for inverted tax structure applies even to claims filed before July 5, 2022, when the amended formula came into force. “The Petitioner will be entitled to the refund as per Section 54(3) of the CGST Act being the difference in the GST rates, due to inverted rate structure.”, the court held.Quashing rejection orders passed by GST authorities, a...

Delhi High Court Declines GST Refund Challenge In Writ, Says Appeal Lies Before GSTAT

The Delhi High Court has declined to entertain a writ petition challenging rejection of GST refund claims, holding that the petitioner must avail the statutory remedy of appeal before the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT).A division bench of Justices Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Ajay Digpaul was dealing with a plea filed by Mahanadi Exporttek Private Limited assailing an appellate order that had upheld rejection of its refund claims aggregating over Rs. 4 crore under Section 54 of...

Madhya Pradesh High Court Sets Aside ₹7.01 Crore GST Demand, Says Officer Lacked Proper Authorisation

The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently held that a GST demand of Rs. 7.01 crore could not be sustained as it was passed by the Assistant Commissioner of State Tax, Anti-Evasion Bureau, Indore, who lacked jurisdiction in the absence of a GST Council-backed authorisation. A bench of Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi set aside the order passed against a firm, Subhash Chandra Narendra Kumar Nahar. “The impugned order dated 30.12.2025 passed by the respondent No.4 is quashed,...