Court rules 'C' Form cannot be retroactively declared obsolete under CST Delhi Rules, favoring petitioner.

The Court set aside the notification declaring the 'C' Form as obsolete under the CST Delhi Rules, ruling that once a form is utilized, it cannot be retrospectively declared obsolete. The Court emphasized that the rules did not permit forms already issued and acted upon to be invalidated in such a manner. The judgment favored the petitioner, quashing the notification and highlighting the lack of legal basis for declaring the 'C' Forms as obsolete.

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Issues:
Challenge to notification declaring 'C' Form obsolete under CST Delhi Rules.

Analysis:
The writ petition sought to quash a notification declaring a 'C' Form issued by a dealer as obsolete and invalid under Rule 5(13) of the CST Delhi Rules. The 'C' Form was issued for an inter-State sale of goods to a dealer in Delhi against a prescribed form for a 2% tax rate. The dealer presented the form in Jammu and Kashmir for tax payment, which was accepted. The key question was whether the retrospective declaration of the form as obsolete was justified.

The Court examined Rule 5(13) and 5(14) of the CST Delhi Rules, emphasizing that once a form is utilized, declaring it obsolete would not apply. Rule 5(14) mandated surrender of unused forms upon declaration of obsolescence for new forms issuance. The Court concluded that the rules did not allow for forms already issued and acted upon to be declared obsolete, thereby invalidating the notification retrospectively declaring the 'C' Form as such.

In response to the Respondent's argument citing previous judgments, the Court noted that the present petition should succeed independently of those judgments. It highlighted that the impugned notification lacked a legal basis to declare the 'C' Forms already issued and acted upon as obsolete. Notably, the Commissioner did not invoke Rule 5(13) in the previous cases cited by the Respondent. Consequently, the Court set aside the notification dated 11th July 2018 issued by the CVAT, allowing the writ petition in favor of the petitioner.

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