Input tax credit remains conditional on the supplier's payment...

Input tax credit remains conditional on the supplier's payment of tax; the constitutional challenge to that condition and the request to read it down were rejected. A demand based on retrospective cancellation of supplier registrations must, however, establish the statutory elements of fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression to evade tax. General audit objections without supplier-wise invoices, cancellation dates, attributable credit, supporting material, or findings on the taxpayer's defence of genuine transactions and contemporaneous registrations do not provide the required factual and statutory foundation. The demand and consequential proceedings were set aside and remanded for fresh adjudication after notice and an effective hearing, without deciding the merits.