The petitioner's claim for refund of unutilized credit on...

The petitioner's claim for refund of unutilized credit on account of payment of Service Tax, Education Cess (EC), Secondary and Higher Education Cess (SHEC), and Krishi Kalyan Cess (KKC) under the GST regime was rejected. The court held that EC, SHEC, and KKC can only be utilized for payment of such cess and not for any other purposes under the CENVAT Credit Rules. There is no cross-utilization of EC, SHEC, and KKC against tax payable on account of Service Tax. The judgment of the Madras High Court in Sutherland Global Services case clarified that there cannot be any transitioning of cess paid as EC, SHEC, and KKC u/s 140 of the CGST Act. The petitioner's claim for refund u/s 54 of the CGST Act was also rejected, as refund can only be claimed for zero-rated supplies or inverted duty structure, which does not apply in this case. The court dismissed the petition, rejecting the petitioner's contentions and the contrary views taken by various Tribunals as not in accordance with statutory provisions.