Amended GST input tax credit relief extends to delayed GSTR-3B filings, with rectification allowed before the competent authority.

The amended Section 16(5) of the GST law was applied to regularise input tax credit claims linked to GSTR-3B returns filed after the original due date, so the benefit of the amendment could not be denied on that ground alone. The court treated the extended cut-off date as curing the earlier timing defect for the relevant tax period and held that the taxpayer should be allowed to pursue rectification before the competent authority. The operative effect is that delayed filing, by itself, did not justify disallowance of input tax credit where the amended provision applied.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to the benefit of the amended Section 16(5) of the Goods and Services Tax law so as to avail input tax credit despite filing GSTR-3B returns beyond the original due date, and whether the petitioner could be permitted to seek rectification before the appropriate authority.

Analysis: The disallowance of input tax credit had been made only on the ground that the returns in Form GSTR-3B were filed beyond the due date under the earlier regime. In view of the insertion of Section 16(5), the returns relating to the relevant tax period stood regularised by the extended cut-off date, and the petitioner could not be denied the benefit of the amendment. The proper course was to allow the petitioner to move the competent authority by filing an appropriate rectification application.

Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to the benefit of the amended provision and was permitted to apply for rectification before the appropriate authority.

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