Taxpayer Must Be Heard Even If They Opt Out Of Personal Hearing Under GST Law: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court recently quashed a GST demand against a registered taxpayer, holding that authorities must grant a personal hearing before passing an adverse order and cannot bypass this requirement even if the taxpayer opts out in a form. A division bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi held that the statutory mandate governing adjudication has to be strictly followed. The court said, “the option of no personal hearing taken by the petitioner, cannot override the...

Tripura High Court Orders Rs 2.21 Crore GST Reimbursement Under Work Contract Clause With 12% Interest

The High Court of Tripura has directed the State authorities to reimburse Rs. 2.21 crore along with 12% interest to a government contractor, holding that taxes paid under the GST regime must be refunded where the contract expressly provides for such reimbursement.A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao and Justice Biswajit Palit was dealing with a writ petition filed by Sri Nimai Kar, a Class-I government contractor, who had undertaken a road construction project pursuant...

Jharkhand High Court Refuses Tata Steel's Writ Against GST Demand, Says Appeal Is Proper Remedy

The Jharkhand High Court has recently refused to entertain a writ petition filed by Tata Steel Limited challenging a GST adjudication order involving alleged wrongful availment of input tax credit, holding that the company had not made out a case to bypass the statutory appellate remedy. “We are satisfied that the petitioner has not made out any case for bypassing the alternate statutory remedy of appeal.”, the court held.A Bench of Chief Justice M. S. Sonak and Justice Rajesh Shankar...

GST Refund Cannot Be Rejected Without Considering Documents Already On Record: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on 16 April set aside an order rejecting a GST refund claim after finding that the authorities failed to properly consider documents submitted by the taxpayer, including the Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC). A Division Bench comprising Justices G. S. Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe held that when relevant documents are already placed on record, the refund claim must be examined fairly and through a reasoned order. It observed: “No prejudice would be caused to the...

CGST Act Bars Parallel Proceedings By State, Central GST Authorities Only For Same Subject Matter: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has recently held that the bar on parallel proceedings under Section 6(2)(b) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 applies only where proceedings by State and Central GST authorities relate to the same subject matter and not where they pertain to different financial years or distinct infractions.A Division Bench of Justices Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Ajay Digpaul made the observation while dismissing a writ petition challenging an order confirming tax demand under...

Uttarakhand High Court Sets Aside GST Order Passed Same Day As Reply, Calls Hearing An “Eyewash”

Observing that passing an adjudication order on the very same day as filing of reply without granting a meaningful opportunity of hearing violates principles of natural justice, the High Court of Uttarakhand set aside GST demand and penalty proceedings against Poddar Ispat Pvt. Ltd.The bench, consisting of Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay, stated that the mere recording of a hearing on the date of filing a reply does not satisfy the requirement of a fair...

Madras High Court Quashes GST Demand On GAIL, Says No Recovery If Tax Already Paid

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has quashed a show cause notice issued to GAIL (India) Ltd. under Section 76 CGST Act, holding that recovery proceedings cannot be sustained where the tax collected has already been remitted to the Government, even if paid through another GST registration of the same entity. Section 76 of the CGST Act, 2017 provides that any person who collects an amount as representing tax must forthwith pay the same to the Government, irrespective of whether the...

Andhra Pradesh High Court Sets Aside GST Order Against Mytrah Energy Over Failure To Examine Nature of Supply

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has set aside a GST assessment order against Mytrah Energy India Pvt. Ltd., holding that the assessing authority failed to properly examine the nature of the transaction and wrongly applied a notification retrospectively.The Division Bench of Justice R. Raghunandan Rao and Justice T.C.D. Sekhar held that the assessment order was unsustainable for failure to examine the nature of supply and accordingly remanded the matter for fresh adjudication.The petitioner,...

Telangana High Court Refuses Challenge To Arrest Of Fino Payments Bank CEO In ₹840 Crore GST Case

The Telangana High Court has upheld the arrest of Fino Payments Bank CEO Rishi Nand Kishore Gupta in an alleged ₹840 crore GST evasion case, holding that the 24-hour safeguard under Article 22(2) of the Constitution was not violated and observing that his contention of being in custody prior to arrest did “not merit acceptance.”Dismissing his writ petition, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin held that Gupta was produced before the Magistrate within...

Madras High Court Holds Cut Tobacco Processed With Jaggery Water Is Unmanufactured Tobacco

The Madras High Court has recently held that cut tobacco processed by curing with jaggery water and sold in cut form would be classifiable as unmanufactured tobacco, setting aside advance rulings that had described it as manufactured chewing tobacco and subjected it to a higher compensation cess under GST.The court set aside the rulings of the Authority for Advance Ruling and the Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling, as well as a single judge's order that had upheld the description of the...

Delhi HC Dismisses GST Dept Review, Says It Could Have Withdrawn SCN Instead Of Inviting Order On Merits

The Delhi High Court has dismissed a review petition filed by the GST Department against an earlier ruling restricting retrospective cancellation of a firm's GST registration. The court observed that in the facts of the case, the Department, having chosen to invite a decision on merits instead of withdrawing the defective show cause notice and seeking liberty to issue a fresh one, could not subsequently seek to reopen the issue in review jurisdiction.A Division Bench of Justices Nitin Wasudeo...

Delhi High Court Quashes State GST Order Citing Overlapping Proceedings With CGST Authority

The Delhi High Court has quashed an order passed by the State GST Authority against an engineering firm, holding that in the facts of the case, where proceedings had already been initiated earlier by the Central GST authority and involved overlapping entities, the State authority ought not to have proceeded further having regard to the mandate of Section 6 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. A Division Bench of Justices Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Ajay Digpaul was dealing with a...