High Court directs urgent consideration for rectifying errors in GST forms

The High Court acknowledged the petitioner's difficulties in rectifying errors in statutory forms GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B through the department's portal. The court issued a notice of motion and directed urgent consideration of the matter, recognizing the time-sensitive nature of the petitioner's request. This reflects the court's commitment to addressing the petitioner's concerns promptly and ensuring compliance with statutory requirements while upholding principles of fairness and justice.

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Issues:
Petitioner's request to file annual return for Assessment Year 2017-18 due to errors in statutory forms GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B not being accepted by the department's portal.

Analysis:
The petitioner, an assessee, sought permission to file the annual return for the Assessment Year 2017-18 by 31.8.2019 under the CGST and HGST. The petitioner highlighted that inadvertent mistakes/errors occurred while filing statutory forms GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, which could be corrected as per legal provisions. However, the corrections were not being accepted by the official portal of the department. The petitioner prayed for either allowing the submission of the annual return in manual form or permitting the correction of original mistakes in the statutory forms on the GST portal by granting permission.

The High Court issued a notice of motion for 27.8.2019. Advocates representing respondents No. 1, 3, 4, and 5 accepted the notice on behalf of their respective clients. The court directed the notice to private respondent No. 2 to be served through dasti summons only for the specified date. The matter was directed to be shown in the urgent list, indicating the court's recognition of the time-sensitive nature of the petitioner's request.

In conclusion, the judgment reflects the court's acknowledgment of the petitioner's predicament due to errors in statutory forms and the inability to rectify them through the department's portal. The court initiated the necessary legal procedures to address the petitioner's request promptly, emphasizing the importance of compliance with statutory requirements while also ensuring fairness and justice in the process.

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