Telangana HC upheld the validity of notifications extending the limitation period for issuing SCN

📌 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄:

Petitioners challenged 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 13/2022, 9/2023, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 56/2023 extending the limitation period for issuing 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗖𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 (𝗦𝗖𝗡𝘀) under 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 73(10) of the CGST Act.

The extensions were issued under 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 168𝗔, which allows the government to extend time limits during 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗲 events like 𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗗-19.

⚖️ 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀' 𝗔𝗿𝗴𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀:

🦠 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿: COVID-19 officially ended in 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 2022, so 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗲 no longer applied.
❌ 𝗔𝗿𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Repeated extensions were 𝘂𝗻𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 and violated 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲 14 (Right to Equality).
📜 𝗡𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗹: Some notifications lacked 𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 recommendations, making them legally questionable.
💸 𝗧𝗮𝘅𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲: The extensions disproportionately favored 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, offering no relief to taxpayers.

🏢 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀' 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲:

🛡️ 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱: 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 168𝗔 permitted the extensions since 𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗗-19 fell within its scope.
📜 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: The term '𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀' was broadly interpreted to include pending actions during the pandemic.
🤝 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: The 𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 ratified the decisions later, ensuring compliance with 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺.
📖 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: Previous court rulings had upheld similar 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 during the pandemic.


🧐 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁'𝘀 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀:

✅ 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗨𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱: The 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 were upheld as valid under 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 168𝗔.
📜 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: The phrase '𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀' was correctly interpreted to include pending cases from the pandemic.
🤝 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹'𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲: The 𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹'𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 was deemed sufficient under the principle of 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺.
📅 𝗡𝗼 𝗔𝗿𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀: The extensions were justified due to 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰-𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀.