Court orders respondents to facilitate electronic/manual filing of Form TRAN-1 & process claim as per law

The court allowed the petition, directing the respondents to enable electronic or manual filing of Form TRAN-1 and process the petitioner's claim in accordance with the law once filed, disposing of the petition accordingly.

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Issues:
Petitioner seeks relief for claiming tax credit in Form Tran-1 due to glitches in the system.

Analysis:
The petitioner, engaged in selling and construction of properties, had CENVAT credit before GST Act introduction. The petitioner's eligibility for credit is undisputed, but faced technical glitches while filing Form GST TRAN-1 due to which transition credit was not availed. Despite extensions, the portal remained closed, leading to the petitioner's inability to claim credit within the stipulated time. The petitioner raised grievances with GST Helpdesk and made multiple representations to authorities, citing technical difficulties and reliance on CBIC Circular and court decisions for similar reliefs granted to others in similar situations.

The respondent contends that the petitioner's error in entering input credit in the wrong column of TRAN-1 disqualifies it from seeking an extension due to self-made mistakes. The respondent claims to have responded to the petitioner's initial email and argues that the petitioner failed to rectify the error within the deadline. The Grievance Redressal Committee rejected the petitioner's request based on lack of evidence of error submission before the due date.

The court reviewed past judgments and noted that similar reliefs were granted in cases where errors prevented filing returns and claiming entitled credits due to system glitches. The court acknowledged the GST system's trial and error phase and directed the respondents to either open the portal for electronic filing or accept manual submission of TRAN-1, emphasizing the need for genuine difficulties faced by taxpayers to be addressed. Following precedent cases, the court allowed the present petition, directing the respondents to enable electronic or manual filing of Form TRAN-1 and process the petitioner's claim in accordance with the law once filed, disposing of the petition accordingly.

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