Technical Glitches in GST Portal Cannot Bar Legitimate Transitional Credit Claims Under Section 140 of CGST Act

The HC allowed the petitioner to claim transitional tax credit in GSTR-3B Forms after facing technical problems uploading GST TRAN-1 declarations. Following precedent from a 2021 Appeal Court judgment, the court granted relief under Section 140 of CGST/WBGST Acts, 2017. As January 2022 returns were already filed, petitioner could claim credit in subsequent month's forms. The court specified that assessing officers retain liberty to verify the genuineness of all transitional credit claims. This relief was explicitly limited to the petitioner's case only.

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Issues Involved:
1. Relief/direction to allow filing of declaration in form GST TRAN-1 for transitional credit.
2. Technical problem in uploading data on GST portal.
3. Interpretation of Section 140 and relevant rules of GST law.
4. Liberty granted to claim individual tax credit in GSTR-3B Forms.
5. Verification of genuineness of transitional tax credit claims.

Analysis:

1. The writ petition sought relief/direction for the petitioner to file a declaration in form GST TRAN-1 to carry forward transitional credit of various taxes under Section 140(1) of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, and Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The petitioner claimed that due to a technical issue in uploading data on the GST portal, the credit could not be availed as required by law.

2. The court considered the provisions of Section 140 and relevant rules of the GST law. It noted that a similar matter had been decided by the Appeal Court in a judgment dated 14th December, 2021. The judgment in MAT 552 of 2020 allowed the writ petitioner/assessee to claim individual tax credit in GSTR-3B Forms for specific months, with the liberty for the assessing officer to verify the genuineness of such claims.

3. In light of the previous judgment and the specific circumstances of the case, the court granted liberty to the petitioner/assessee to file individual transitional tax credit in GSTR-3B Forms for the relevant months. The assessing officer would have the liberty to verify the genuineness of these claims, ensuring compliance with the law and preventing any misuse of transitional credit provisions.

4. As the return for the month of January 2022 had already been filed, the court allowed the petitioner to claim transitional tax credit in the GSTR-3B Forms for the subsequent month, with verification procedures in place. The court explicitly stated that the benefit of this order would be limited to the petitioner alone, ensuring that the relief granted was specific to the petitioner's case.

5. The judgment provided clarity on the process for claiming transitional tax credit, addressing the technical issues faced by the petitioner and ensuring compliance with the GST law. By granting liberty for verification of claims, the court balanced the interests of the petitioner with the need to prevent any misuse of transitional credit provisions, thereby resolving the issues raised in the writ petition effectively.

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