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Issues: (i) Whether Section 16(2)(c) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 is ultra vires the Constitution? (ii) If not, whether the provision is liable to be read down so as to protect a bona fide purchaser? (iii) Whether the show cause notice dated 26.09.2025 lacks the jurisdictional foundation for invoking Section 74? (iv) Whether the proceedings are vitiated by breach of the principles of natural justice, including the rule against bias and the non issuance of Form GST DRC-01A? (v) Whether, in the absence of any of the above, the petitioner ought to be relegated to the statutory appellate remedy?
Issue (i): Whether Section 16(2)(c) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 is ultra vires the Constitution?
Analysis: Input tax credit under Section 16 is conditional and Section 16(2) imposes cumulative, mandatory conditions. The supplier-tax-payment condition in Section 16(2)(c), read with Section 41(2), requires reversal where the supplier has not paid tax but permits re-availment once payment is made. Section 155 places the burden of proving eligibility on the claimant. The supplier-default risk assigned to the recipient is a legislative-policy choice, while the reversal-and-restoration mechanism prevents the condition from being final or confiscatory. A speaking Supreme Court ruling affirming the validity of the provision and declining its read-down is binding.
Conclusion: Section 16(2)(c) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 is constitutionally valid. The issue is decided against the assessee.
Issue (ii): If not, whether the provision is liable to be read down so as to protect a bona fide purchaser?
Analysis: The request to read down Section 16(2)(c) stands expressly rejected by the binding ruling on the provision. Independently, a bona fide-purchaser exception would not resolve allegations that credit was claimed through fake invoices, bogus supplies and transactions without movement of goods. The genuineness and bona fides of such transactions require factual determination on evidence within the statutory appellate process.
Conclusion: Section 16(2)(c) is not liable to be read down for the assessee. The issue is decided against the assessee.
Issue (iii): Whether the show cause notice dated 26.09.2025 lacks the jurisdictional foundation for invoking Section 74?
Analysis: Section 74(1) requires prima facie satisfaction that wrongful availment of credit resulted from fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression of facts to evade tax. A mere reproduction of statutory language would be insufficient; however, detailed allegations of layered dealings, fake invoices, bogus supplies and absence of goods movement furnish the requisite jurisdictional foundation. The challenge concerns the adequacy and correctness of the material, which is an issue on merits rather than an absence of jurisdiction.
Conclusion: The show cause notice does not lack jurisdictional foundation under Section 74. The issue is decided against the assessee.
Issue (iv): Whether the proceedings are vitiated by breach of the principles of natural justice, including the rule against bias and the non issuance of Form GST DRC-01A?
Analysis: Following the substitution of "shall" by "may" in Rule 142(1A), pre-notice intimation in Form GST DRC-01A is an enabling facility rather than a condition precedent to action under Section 74. Absence of demonstrable prejudice also defeats this objection. The statutory scheme permits the proper officer to undertake investigation and determination; performance of both functions by that officer, without personal interest, animus, closed mind, or other cogent material creating a real likelihood of bias, does not establish disqualifying bias. Alleged inadequate consideration of the reply is, at most, an error within jurisdiction capable of appellate scrutiny.
Conclusion: The proceedings are not vitiated by breach of natural justice, bias, or non-issuance of Form GST DRC-01A. The issue is decided against the assessee.
Issue (v): Whether, in the absence of any of the above, the petitioner ought to be relegated to the statutory appellate remedy?
Analysis: Once the constitutional and jurisdictional challenges fail, disputed questions concerning the alleged bogus transactions, the sufficiency of evidence, and the assessment of the reply fall within the appellate framework under Section 107. Permitting writ review of those merits would bypass the statutory hierarchy.
Conclusion: The assessee must pursue the statutory appellate remedy. The issue is decided against the assessee.
Final Conclusion: The supplier-tax-payment condition for input tax credit remains enforceable, and the alleged factual merits of the transactions, including their bona fides, remain open for determination under the statutory appellate framework.
Ratio Decidendi: Input tax credit is a conditional statutory entitlement, and the mandatory supplier-tax-payment condition under Section 16(2)(c), supported by reversal and re-availment under Section 41, cannot be invalidated or read down; disputes as to transaction genuineness ordinarily require recourse to the statutory appellate remedy.
Input tax credit conditions require supplier tax payment, with disputed transaction genuineness directed to statutory appeals.
Input tax credit under Section 16 is a conditional statutory entitlement: the recipient must establish eligibility, including that the supplier has paid the tax. Section 16(2)(c), read with Section 41, permits reversal of credit for supplier default and re-availment after payment, and is not subject to a bona fide-purchaser exception. Allegations of fake invoices, bogus supplies and absence of goods movement may provide the prima facie foundation for proceedings under Section 74, while their evidentiary correctness requires merits review. Form GST DRC-01A is not a mandatory precondition under Rule 142(1A), and investigation and determination by the proper officer do not alone establish bias. Transactional disputes are to be pursued through the statutory appellate framework.
Constitutional validity of input tax credit conditional on supplier tax payment - Read-down of input tax credit conditions - Jurisdictional foundation for fraud-based input tax credit proceedings - Natural justice in GST adjudication - Alternative statutory remedyInput tax credit conditional on supplier tax payment - Read-down of input tax credit conditions - Constitutional validity and proposed read-down of the condition requiring actual payment of tax by the supplier for availment of input tax credit - HELD THAT: - Input tax credit is a conditional statutory entitlement, not a vested or constitutional right. The conditions under section 16(2) are cumulative, and compliance with other conditions cannot dispense with the requirement of actual payment of tax under clause (c). Section 41 provides for reversal of credit where the supplier has not paid tax and its re-availment when the default is cured; section 155 places the burden of proving eligibility on the claimant. The statutory allocation of the risk of supplier default to the recipient, coupled with the reversal and re-availment mechanism, was held neither arbitrary nor unconstitutional. The plea for reading down stood expressly negatived by the binding speaking decision of the Supreme Court; moreover, the alleged fake invoices and bogus supplies required factual determination and did not warrant writ adjudication. [Paras 22, 27, 28, 30, 31]The challenge to section 16(2)(c) failed, and no reading down was granted; the contention that the transactions were bona fide was left open for pursuit under the statutory remedies.Jurisdictional foundation for fraud-based input tax credit proceedings - Jurisdictional foundation for invoking section 74 in respect of allegedly wrongful input tax credit - HELD THAT: - Invocation of section 74 requires prima facie satisfaction that credit was wrongly availed by reason of fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression of facts to evade tax; a bare statutory recital without supporting material would not suffice. The show cause notice, however, contained detailed allegations of layered transactions, fake invoices, bogus supplies and absence of movement of goods. If established, those allegations would fall within the statutory ingredients. The challenge consequently concerned adequacy of material and appreciation of the reply, which are matters on merits for the appellate forum rather than grounds to quash the proceedings in writ jurisdiction. [Paras 34, 35, 36, 37, 38]The show cause notice was held not to lack jurisdictional foundation under section 74.Natural justice in GST adjudication - Rule against bias - Alleged breach of natural justice arising from non-issuance of pre-notice intimation, investigation and adjudication by the same officer, and alleged non-consideration of the reply - HELD THAT: - Following the substitution of "shall" by "may", pre-notice intimation in Form GST DRC-01A is an enabling facility and not a condition precedent to proceedings under section 74. No prejudice was shown where the petitioner had participated in the proceedings, furnished records, replied to the notice and received a hearing. The statutory scheme entrusts investigation, issuance of notice and determination to the proper officer; therefore, performance of both investigative and adjudicatory functions by the same officer does not establish bias without cogent material showing personal interest, animus or a closed mind. Alleged inadequate appreciation of the reply, after notice and hearing, was at most an error within jurisdiction remediable in appeal. [Paras 43, 44, 46, 47, 48]No breach of natural justice or disqualifying bias was made out.Alternative statutory remedy - Maintainability of the writ petition against the adjudication order where the statutory appellate remedy was available - HELD THAT: - Once the constitutional and jurisdictional challenges failed, the grievances concerning the evidence, the alleged bona fides of the transactions and the adjudication on merits had to be pursued through the statutory appeal. Treating such merits grievances as violations of natural justice would defeat the statutory appellate hierarchy and its pre-deposit requirement. [Paras 49, 50, 51]The petitioner was relegated to the statutory appeal, with the period spent in the writ petition excluded from limitation if the appeal is filed within the stipulated period; the deposit made through Form GST DRC-03 was directed to be adjusted towards the appellate pre-deposit, without prejudice to the rival contentions.Final Conclusion: The writ petition was disposed of by rejecting the challenge to section 16(2)(c), the show cause notice and the adjudication order. The petitioner was relegated to the statutory appellate remedy, with all merits contentions kept open for appellate consideration.