Input tax credit cannot be denied for delayed claim where the statute sets no express time limit.

Input tax credit under the Karnataka Value Added Tax Act could not be denied merely because the claim was made after the invoice month or beyond six months from the invoice date. The unamended Section 10(3) was read as containing no express time limit for availing credit, and return-filing machinery provisions could not override the substantive entitlement to genuine and admissible credit. The Court applied the principle that input tax credit is an indefeasible right and cannot be defeated by procedural limitation requirements in the absence of clear statutory restriction. The assessee was therefore entitled to the credit, and the delayed-claim disallowance was unsustainable.

---

---

Issues: Whether input tax credit under Section 10(3) of the Karnataka Value Added Tax Act, 2003 could be denied merely because the credit was claimed beyond the month of the invoice or beyond six months from the date of invoice.

Analysis: The Court held that the unamended Section 10(3) did not prescribe any express time limit for availing input tax credit. The statutory scheme was read as permitting credit when the tax was paid on eligible purchases, and the machinery provisions relating to return filing could not defeat the substantive entitlement to credit. The Court also relied on the settled principle that input tax credit is an indefeasible right and cannot be denied on the anvil of limitation-based procedural requirements where the credit is otherwise genuine and admissible.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to avail input tax credit without being confined to the month of the invoice or any six-month limitation, and the disallowance based on delayed claim was not sustainable.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded and the assessee's entitlement to input tax credit was upheld on the merits.

Ratio Decidendi: In the absence of an express statutory restriction, a substantive input tax credit claim cannot be defeated by procedural return-filing timelines, and valid input tax credit remains available without limitation of time.

---