Retrospective input tax credit relief under Section 16(5) applied, but return-filing dates required verification before final adjudication.

Retrospective insertion of Section 16(5) of the CGST Act was treated as a curative provision operating from 01.07.2017 for the relevant financial years, and input tax credit could not be denied merely because the earlier time limit had expired. The Court followed the coordinate bench view that returns filed up to 30.11.2021 could support regularisation of credit, but the factual date of filing of the GSTR-3B returns had to be verified before final relief. The demand order under Section 73 was quashed and the matter remanded for fresh adjudication after verification, with interim protection against coercive steps.

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Issues: Whether the demand order passed under Section 73 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 was liable to be quashed in view of the retrospective insertion of Section 16(5), and whether the petitioner was entitled to the benefit of regularisation of input tax credit upon proof of filing the returns within the stipulated period.

Analysis: The inserted Section 16(5) was treated as a curative and retrospective provision operating from 01.07.2017 for the relevant financial years. The Court applied the earlier coordinate bench view that where returns for the relevant period are filed up to 30.11.2021, input tax credit cannot be denied merely on the earlier time bar. The Court also directed verification of the actual date of filing of the GSTR-3B returns before final adjudication, indicating that the factual condition for the statutory benefit had to be established on remand.

Conclusion: The impugned order was quashed and the matter was sent back for fresh adjudication after verification of the filing dates, with interim protection against coercive steps.

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