Court dismisses Writ Petition seeking response on GST filing, important lesson on timely representations

The court dismissed the Writ Petition seeking a response to a representation regarding the filing of Form GST TRAN-1 and permission to revise returns in GSTR-3B. The petitioner's request for a Writ of Mandamus was rendered infructuous after the respondent summarily dismissed the representation, leading to the petition being withdrawn without costs imposed, but with liberty to challenge the dismissal order in accordance with the law. The judgment underscores the significance of timely responses to representations and the available legal remedies for addressing dismissals or lack of responses within the tax law framework.

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Issues:
1. Filing of Form GST TRAN-1 and declaration of carried forward credit.
2. Discharge of output liability in cash.
3. Request for permission to revise returns in GSTR-3B.
4. Lack of response to the representation dated 18.06.2020.
5. Dismissal of the representation through an intimation dated 30.09.2020.

Analysis:
1. The petitioner filed Form GST TRAN-1 on 27.12.2017, declaring a carried forward credit of Rs. 82,91,19,712 in accordance with Section 140(1) and (3) of the CGST Act, 2017. Subsequently, the petitioner discharged an output liability of Rs. 86,96,78,402 in cash out of the total output liability of Rs. 3,06,54,78,517 for the period July 2017 to November 2017.

2. Following this, the petitioner sent a letter and an email on 18.06.2020 to Respondent No.7, seeking permission to revise the returns in GSTR-3B from July 2017 onwards to utilize the credit carried forward through GST TRAN-1. However, no response was received to this communication, leading the petitioner to file a Writ Petition No.15467/2020 seeking a Writ of Mandamus for a response to the representation dated 18.06.2020.

3. The Writ Petition was listed for hearing on 29.10.2020, but before the hearing, the petitioner received an email on 03.11.2020 containing an intimation dated 30.09.2020, which summarily dismissed the petitioner's representation from June 2020. Consequently, the prayer in the Writ Petition became infructuous, leading to its dismissal as withdrawn, with liberty granted to challenge the order dated 30.09.2020 in accordance with the law, without any costs imposed on the petitioner.

This judgment reflects the importance of timely responses to representations and the legal recourse available in case of dismissals or lack of responses to legitimate requests made within the framework of tax laws and regulations.

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