The appellant paid service tax voluntarily under reverse charge...

The appellant paid service tax voluntarily under reverse charge mechanism before the GST regime. The adjudicating authority denied refund, holding that service tax was paid voluntarily and no credit is available in the GST regime. However, Section 174(2) of the GST Act protects the right of credit accrued under the erstwhile law. The Punjab and Haryana High Court in ADFERT TECHNOLOGIES PVT. LTD. case held that transitional credit being a vested right cannot be denied on procedural grounds. Section 142(3) of the GST Act provides for disposing refund claims of service tax/duty under the erstwhile law in accordance with the existing law, and any amount accruing has to be paid in cash. There is no allegation that the credit is ineligible to the appellant. Rejection of the refund claim by referring to Section 142(8) is misplaced as the claim is only for refund and not assessment or adjudication. Hence, rejection of the refund claim is unjustified, and the impugned order is set aside. The appeal is allowed.