Input tax credit on purchases from a supplier later reported...

Input tax credit on purchases from a supplier later reported non-existent must be assessed on the totality of evidence. Contemporaneous invoices, transport records, GST records and banking-channel payments require independent verification and cogent rebuttal; a supplier's later non-existence alone does not establish fictitious purchases or non-receipt of goods. Recovery of allegedly wrongful credit under Section 74 requires positive evidence of fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression with intent to evade tax. Non-appearance before authorities or delayed invoice payment followed by proportionate credit reversal with interest does not, by itself, establish those statutory ingredients or justify equal penalty.