GST advance ruling on flavoured milk barred where related proceedings on the same classification issue were already pending.

An advance ruling application on classification of flavoured milk under GST was held inadmissible because proceedings on the same classification issue were already pending against the brand-owning federation. The applicant's role as a shareholder and supplier under the same common brand was treated as a sufficient connection with those proceedings, so it could not claim independence to avoid the statutory bar on admission. The application therefore fell within the first proviso to Section 98(2) of the CGST Act, 2017 and was rejected.

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Issues: Whether the application for advance ruling on classification of flavoured milk was admissible when proceedings on the same subject were pending in relation to the brand-owning entity with which the applicant was linked.

Analysis: The application sought a ruling on classification of flavoured milk under the GST law. The applicant admitted that it supplied the product under a common brand owned by another co-operative federation against whom an offence case was pending before the GST investigation authorities on the very classification issue. The Authority held that the applicant, being a shareholder and supplier under the same brand, was sufficiently connected with the pending proceedings and could not be treated as independent for the purpose of avoiding the statutory bar on admission. On that basis, the application attracted the first proviso to Section 98(2) of the CGST Act, 2017.

Conclusion: The application was inadmissible and was rejected.

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