Amended GST input tax credit benefit extended to delayed returns, with rectification to be pursued before the competent authority.

The Calcutta HC noted that the amended GST input tax credit provision extended the cut-off date and removed the earlier penal effect linked to delay under section 16(4) for the relevant financial years. On that basis, the petitioner's returns for September 2018 to March 2019 were treated as covered by the extended regime, and the benefit of the amendment could not be denied merely because GSTR-3B returns had been filed late. Any consequential relief, however, was to be sought through an electronic rectification application before the competent authority.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to the benefit of the amended input tax credit provision for returns filed for the period September 2018 to March 2019, and whether the petitioner could be permitted to seek rectification before the appropriate authority.

Analysis: The disallowance of input tax credit had rested on delay in filing Form GSTR-3B returns. The amendment inserting sub-section (5) to section 16 was noted to have extended the cut-off date and withdrawn the penal effect earlier attached to section 16(4) for the relevant financial years. In view of that amendment, the returns for the petitioner's tax period were treated as having been regularised for the purpose of the extended cut-off date. The Court also noted that any consequential consideration had to be preceded by an appropriate electronic rectification application before the competent authority.

Conclusion: The petitioner was held entitled to the benefit of the amendment, and leave was granted to apply before the appropriate authority for rectification.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition was disposed of with directions enabling the petitioner to invoke the amended GST provision through the prescribed rectification process.

Ratio Decidendi: A beneficial statutory amendment extending the time limit for availing input tax credit cannot be denied to an assessee where the relevant returns fall within the extended regime, and the claim may be pursued through rectification before the competent authority.

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