Technical Glitch On Portal Cannot Deprive Taxpayer Of Sabka Vishwas Scheme Benefit: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on 11 March held that the benefit of the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 cannot be denied on mere technical grounds when a taxpayer is not at fault.

A Division Bench comprising Justice G. S. Kulkarni and Justice Aarti Sathe allowed a writ petition by Himtaj Ayurved Pvt. Ltd and directed the authorities to issue it a discharge certificate, emphasising that the scheme is a one-time measure aimed at resolving legacy disputes and ensuring disclosure of unpaid taxes.

The Court held:

“Keeping in mind the aforesaid objective of the scheme, a hyper technical view of the SVS, 2019 scheme cannot be taken and the benefit of the scheme must be allowed to the Petitioner.”

Himtaj Ayurved Pvt. Ltd. had filed four declarations under the scheme, of which three were accepted.

The dispute arose in respect of the fourth declaration, where, despite payment being made within the extended COVID-19 timeline, the Department denied the benefit because the challan had expired and payment details did not match. The company explained that the delay and technical issues were beyond its control.

The Court noted earlier decisions of the High Court and the Supreme Court in cases like Arjun Amarjeet Rampal v. Union of India, Cradle Runways Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India, and Shekhar Resorts Limited v. Union of India, held that the scheme should not be defeated by technicalities when the party has made genuine efforts to comply.

In the present case, the Bench found that the challan was not uploaded due to a technical issue. This constituted a genuine difficulty, not a deliberate delay or evasion.

Therefore, it held the rejection order to be arbitrary, unwarranted, and issued in complete non-application of mind, especially since the department had ignored binding precedents.

Accordingly, the Court quashed the rejection order and directed the authorities to issue a discharge certificate within four weeks.

Appearance for the Petitioner: Mr. Bharat Raichandani a/w Bhagrati Sahu i/b. UBR Legal Advocates

Appearance for the Respondents: Mr. Jitendra B. Mishra a/w Sangeeta Yadav & Rupesh Dubey