Court Grants Stay on Tax Deposit; Petitioner Awaits CGST/OGST Appellate Tribunal Formation for Appeal Rights.

The Orissa HC addressed a writ petition concerning the non-constitution of the Appellate Tribunal under the CGST/OGST Act, 2017, which impeded the petitioner's statutory right to appeal. The Court, acknowledging the Ninth Removal of Difficulties Order, 2019, granted the petitioner a stay on the deposit of 20% of the disputed tax amount. The petitioner must file an appeal under Section 112 once the Tribunal is operational. Non-compliance would permit the respondent authorities to proceed legally. The writ petition was disposed of with requisite directions, ensuring an urgent certified copy of the order is issued according to procedural rules.

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Issues involved: Non-constitution of Appellate Tribunal under CGST/OGST Act, 2017 leading to deprivation of statutory remedy of Appeal and corresponding benefits.

Summary:
The High Court of Orissa considered a writ petition challenging an order passed by the Authority under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act)/Odisha Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (OGST Act) which was appealable under Section 112 of the Acts. Due to the non-constitution of the Appellate Tribunal as required under section 109 of the Acts, the petitioner was deprived of its statutory remedy of Appeal and the corresponding benefits of subsections- 8 & 9 of section 112. The Government of India, based on the recommendation of the GST Council, issued the Central Goods and Services Tax (Ninth Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2019 to address this issue.

In line with the Removal of Difficulties Order, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, GST Policy Wing issued a circular providing clarification on the appeal process considering the non-constitution of the Appellate Tribunal. The Court, with the consent of the parties, disposed of the writ petition by granting the petitioner the statutory benefit of stay on deposit of a sum equal to 20 percent of the remaining amount of tax in dispute. The Court also required the petitioner to file an appeal under Section 112 of the Acts once the Tribunal is constituted and made functional. Failure to do so would allow the respondent-Authorities to proceed further in the matter in accordance with the law.

The Court issued necessary directions and observations, and the writ petition was disposed of with an urgent certified copy of the order to be issued as per rules.

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