Retrospective input tax credit amendments under GST made the pending show-cause notice redundant and reopened eligibility.

Retrospective amendments to Section 16 of the CGST Act, inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024 and brought into force from 01.07.2017, extended eligibility to claim input tax credit for invoices and debit notes relating to the specified financial years, subject to the conditions in the amended provisions. In view of that legislative change, the earlier challenge to the pending show-cause notice no longer required independent adjudication. The petitioner was held entitled to seek input tax credit under the amended regime, the impugned notice was set aside as redundant, and the matter was remitted to the jurisdictional officer for appropriate action, if necessary.

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Issues: Whether the retrospective amendments to Section 16 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 entitled the registered person to claim input tax credit for the relevant financial years and rendered the pending show-cause notice unsustainable.

Analysis: The amended regime introduced by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024 inserted sub-sections (5) and (6) into Section 16 and, by Notification No. 17/2024-Central Tax dated 27.09.2024, was brought into force with retrospective effect from 01.07.2017. The amendments expressly extended the entitlement to take input tax credit for invoices and debit notes relating to the specified financial years, subject to the conditions stated in the newly inserted provisions. In view of this legislative change, the controversy raised in the writ petition no longer required independent adjudication on the earlier challenge to the notice.

Conclusion: The petitioner was held entitled to seek input tax credit under the amended provisions, and the impugned show-cause notice was set aside as redundant, with the matter remitted to the competent jurisdictional officer for appropriate action, if necessary.

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