CGST time-limit extension notification under scrutiny as Gauhati HC grants interim restraint on coercive action

The Gauhati HC recorded a prima facie view that Notification No. 56/2023, which extended the time limit for passing assessment orders under the CGST Act, may not be consistent with Section 168A. The Court noted that if the notification fails legal scrutiny, consequential action taken under it may also be affected, and that the force majeure basis for the extension, including material reflected in GST Council minutes, required fuller examination. As the respondents had not yet filed their complete stand and supporting material, the Court granted interim protection and restrained coercive action on the impugned assessment order pending affidavits and further hearing.

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Issues: Whether Notification No. 56/2023 dated 28.12.2023 extending the time limit for passing assessment orders under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 was prima facie inconsistent with Section 168A; whether the plea of force majeure required examination; and whether interim protection against coercive action was warranted pending further affidavits.

Analysis: The order records a prima facie view that the notification extending time limits may not be in consonance with Section 168A of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. It notes that if the notification cannot withstand legal scrutiny, consequential actions based on it may also fail. The order also records the need to examine whether the grounds relied upon, including those reflected in the minutes of the GST Council meeting, amount to force majeure. Since the respondents had not yet placed their full stand and supporting materials on record, the Court considered interim protection appropriate pending further hearing.

Conclusion: Interim protection was granted and coercive action on the basis of the impugned assessment order was restrained until the next date, pending affidavits and further consideration.

Final Conclusion: The matter remained pending for further adjudication, with interim relief operating in favour of the petitioner in the meantime.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the legality of a tax-extension notification is prima facie doubtful and the supporting basis for invoking force majeure remains to be tested, interim restraint on coercive recovery may be granted pending fuller adjudication.

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