TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (4) TMI 92
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....(O&M), CWP-6116-2024 (O&M), CWP-6188-2024 (O&M), CWP-6195-2024 (O&M), CWP-6618-2024 (O&M), CWP-6626-2024 (O&M), CWP-6634-2024 (O&M), CWP-6807-2024(O&M), CWP-6994-2024 (O&M), CWP-7131-2024 (O&M), CWP-7144-2024 (O&M), CWP-7155-2024 (O&M), CWP-7544-2024 (O&M), CWP-8135-2024 (O&M), CWP-8133-2024 (O&M), CWP-7670-2024 (O&M), CWP-8055-2024 (O&M), CWP-7965-2024 (O&M), CWP-8276-2024 (O&M), CWP-8115-2024 (O&M), CWP-8200-2024 (O&M), CWP-8194-2024(O&M), CWP-8193-2024 (O&M), CWP-8192-2024 (O&M), CWP-8295-2024 (O&M), CWP-8293-2024 (O&M), CWP-9282-2024 (O&M), CWP-9284-2024(O&M), CWP-9003-2024 (O&M), CWP-9064-2024 (O&M), CWP-9104-2024 (O&M), CWP-9395-2024(O&M), CWP-9590-2024 (O&M), CWP-10252-2024(O&M), CWP-10092-2024 (O&M), CWP-10216-2024 (O&M), CWP-9956-2024 (O&M), CWP-9923-2024 (O&M), CWP-9591-2024 (O&M), CWP-9568-2024 (O&M), CWP-9680-2024 (O&M), CWP-9953-2024(O&M), CWP-9816-2024 (O&M), CWP-10711-2024 (O&M), CWP-10861-2024(O&M), CWP-10848-2024 (O&M), CWP-10713-2024 (O&M), CWP-10569-2024(O&M), CWP-10642-2024 (O&M), CWP-8997-2024 (O&M), CWP-11528-2024 (O&M), CWP-11366-2024(O&M), CWP-11212-2024(O&M), CWP-10963-2024 (O&M), CWP-11122-2024(O&M), CWP-10944-2024(O&M), CWP-11076-2024 (O&M), CWP-10933-202....
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....M), CWP-18309-2024 (O&M), CWP-18285-2024 (O&M), CWP-18330-2024 (O&M), CWP-18313-2024 (O&M), CWP-18342-2024 (O&M), CWP-18346-2024 (O&M), CWP-18310-2024 (O&M), CWP-18306-2024 (O&M), CWP-18280-2024 (O&M), CWP-18023-2024 (O&M), CWP-18012-2024 (O&M), CWP-17671-2024 (O&M), CWP-19906-2024 (O&M), CWP-20068-2024 (O&M), CWP-19648-2024 (O&M), CWP-19895-2024 (O&M), CWP-19860-2024 (O&M), CWP-19515-2024 (O&M), CWP-19302-2024 (O&M), CWP-19316-2024 (O&M), CWP-19505-2024 (O&M), CWP-17529-2024 (O&M), CWP-19299-2024 (O&M), CWP-18924-2024 (O&M), CWP-19106-2024 (O&M), CWP-18332-2024 (O&M), CWP-18357-2024 (O&M), CWP-18312-2024 (O&M), CWP-18948-2024 (O&M), CWP-18964-2024 (O&M), CWP-18955-2024 (O&M), CWP-19897-2024 (O&M), CWP-14368-2024 (O&M), CWP-14346-2024 (O&M), CWP-20796-2024 (O&M), CWP-20798-2024 (O&M), CWP-20822-2024 (O&M), CWP-20829-2024 (O&M), CWP-20830-2024 (O&M), CWP-21037-2024 (O&M), CWP-21047-2024 (O&M), CWP-21048-2024 (O&M), CWP-21050-2024 (O&M), CWP-21233-2024 (O&M), CWP-21267-2024 (O&M), CWP-21273-2024 (O&M), CWP-21436-2024(O&M), CWP-21439-2024 (O&M), CWP-21453-2024 (O&M), CWP-21466-2024 (O&M), CWP-21481-2024 (O&M), CWP-15901-2024 (O&M), CWP-3435-2024 (O&M), CWP-9000-2024 (O&M), CWP-9082-20....
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....&M), CWP-29618-2024 (O&M), CWP-29745-2024 (O&M), CWP-29741-2024 (O&M), CWP-29219-2024 (O&M), CWP-29398-2024 (O&M), CWP-29420-2024 (O&M), CWP-22543-2024 (O&M), CWP-22334-2024 (O&M), CWP-22387-2024 (O&M), CWP-22398-2024 (O&M), CWP-22400-2024 (O&M), CWP-22538-2024 (O&M), CWP-22551-2024 (O&M), CWP-22555-2024 (O&M), CWP-22558-2024 (O&M), CWP-22570-2024 (O&M), CWP-22577-2024 (O&M), CWP-22960-2024 (O&M), CWP-23112-2024 (O&M), CWP-23114-2024 (O&M), CWP-30557-2024 (O&M), CWP-30545-2024 (O&M), CWP-23119-2024 (O&M), CWP-23127-2024 (O&M), CWP-23383-2024 (O&M), CWP-23417-2024 (O&M), CWP-23419-2024 (O&M), CWP-30616-2024 (O&M), CWP-23796-2024 (O&M), CWP-23802-2024 (O&M), CWP-23804-2024 (O&M), CWP-23815-2024 (O&M), CWP-24009-2024 (O&M), CWP-30381-2024 (O&M), CWP-30735-2024 (O&M), CWP-24015-2024 (O&M), CWP-24023-2024 (O&M), CWP-24032-2024 (O&M), CWP-24036-2024 (O&M), CWP-25302-2024 (O&M), CWP-30370-2024 (O&M), CWP-30841-2024 (O&M), CWP-30808-2024 (O&M), CWP-30882-2024 (O&M), CWP-30969-2024 (O&M), CWP-30972-2024 (O&M), CWP-30901-2024 (O&M), CWP-30935-2024 (O&M), CWP-31331-2024 (O&M), CWP-20386-2024 (O&M), CWP-20416-2024 (O&M), CWP-21814-2024 (O&M), CWP-22014-2024 (O&M), CWP-22162-2024 (O&M), CWP-222....
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....ls And Others, M/s. Sada Shiv Rice Mills And Others, CPL Cars Private Limited, M/s. Om Bapu Rice And General Mills And Another, Shagun Automobiles Pvt Ltd, MS Ganpati Agro Mills, Mahalaxmi Motors, Jai Luxmi Agency, Ankit Trading Co., Shree Bala Ji Cotgin Company, M/s. Ganesh Rice Mills, Pinky Radios Through Its Proprietor Sain Ditta Ram Gakhar, Murlidhar And Co., M/s. Fitness Gallery, M/s. BS Rice Mills And Another, M/s. Kissan Battery House, Through Its Proprietor Monu Joshi, Madhav Food Products, Surya Motors Private Limited, Vijay VIJ, Balaji Exim And Anr., Lally Motors Pvt. Ltd., Micron Precision Screws Pvt Ltd., Yamuna Interiors Pvt Ltd, Bobieri Creazon Fashion Accessories Pvt Ltd, Hitrac Manpower Services Pvt Ltd., Punjab Rice Mills, M/s. Gee And Gee Associates, M/s. Jai Durga Hardware, Dashmesh Agro Works Thr Its Proprietor, Rajinder Singh, Bansal Cotton Mills, M/s. M.L. Rice Mill Bathinda, Manisha Impex, M/s. Om Parkash Vijay Kumar, M/s. MMTC Pamp India Pvt Ltd, Ramsons Organics Limited, M/s. Shankar Rice Mills And Another, Jaspal Singh Sethi, M/s. Jagdev Singh Electrical Contractor Thr Its Proprietor Satbir Singh, Shiv Shakti Trading Co., M/s. Dreamweavers Edutrack Pvt Ltd....
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....roprietor Manoj Kumar, MS M.K. Builders, M/s. Ravindra Rice And General Mills, M/s. Holly City Impex, Nirmal Electronics, M/s. Bright Refrigeration, Shiva Rice And General Mills Thr Proprietor Rajeev Kumar Garg, M/s. Neelam Construction Company, M/s. Shiva Cement Store, Through Its Proprietor Amit Kumar Goel, M M Riceland Private Limited, H M Rice Mills, MRMC Foods Private Limited, Mahaluxmi Rice And General Mills, Valco Industries Limited, Goyal Automobiles Through Its Proprietor, Dharam Pal Goyal, Hero Rice Mills, M/s. Dream Tech Infotel Pvt Ltd, M/s. Swami Autocare Pvt Ltd, M/s Jai Durga Rice Mills, MS Mg Motors, Kansal Mobile Shopee And Others, M/s. Anmol Watches And Electronics Pvt Ltd., M/s Janki Dass Rice Mills And Another, Sanewal Auto Engineers Pvt Ltd, Vimlesh Industries, M/s. Aggarwal Cotton Factory And Others, M/s. Gupta Sons, Milando Fashions Ltd., M/s. Simplex Infrastructures Limited, MS Cargo Motors Private Limited, Guru Kirpa Enterprises, M/s. Unique Motors, M/s. Nandani Enterprises, M/s. Cargo Motors Kutch Pvt Ltd, MS SK Steel Corporation, Ms Mukerian Traders, SGS Hospitality, M/s. Flight Experts India, Hansco Sales India, M/s. Jai Shiv Shambhu Rice Mills, M/s. B.D....
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....Limited, Jagraon Cycle Industries, M/s. Ganesh Metal, M/s. Samridhi Metal, Faridabad, M/s. ROC Foods Ltd., M/s. Prem Khalsa Iron And Steel Rolling Mills, Dwarka Dass Khosla Agencies Pvt Ltd, D.D. Khosla Transport Private Limited, Sharma Trading Co., M/s. Shukrana Impex Private Limited, SM Traders, M/s. New Rice Mills And Others, M/s. Ramuwal Indane Service, Vishav Bandu Vij, Ms Nutricia International Private Limited, M/s. Roc Foods Ltd, M/s. M.P. Steel, Amazing Kids, Bagga Vet Pharma, M/s. Ramuwal Kisan Seva Kendra, M/s. Gaurav Steel Industries, M/s. RSA Motors Private Limited, Charisma Goldwheels Pvt Ltd., Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd., Haveli Restaurant And Resorts Limited, M/s. Rashtriya Bartan Bhandar, M/s. Sajan Enterprises, Moudgil India, M/s. Mukta Medical Hall, Panipat, M/s. A.V. Enterprises, Shaurya Alloys Pvt Ltd., M/s. Goyal Enterprises, Dhiman Industries, M/s. Surbhika Steels Pvt Ltd, M/s. Kohli Tractors, M/s. Sokhal Gift Centre, M/s. JK Steel Mill And Store, M/s. Heat Solutions, M/s. Shree Hari Chand Rice Mills And Others, M/s. Shivam Trading Co., MS Friends Hydraulics, M/s. Guru Nanak Metals Thr Prop Jagjit Singh, M/s. Vardhman Enterprise, Baba Metal Co., M/s. S....
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.... Distillers And Manufacturers Ltd., M/s. Toshiba India Private Limited, M/s. BS Agro Industries And Others, M/s. Goel Electronico, M/s. Swami Autocare Pvt Ltd, Vinod Rice And Agro Mills And Others, M/s. Dashmesh Industries And Others, M/s. RV Impex, M/s. Shivalik Labour And Construction Society Ltd, Gaurav Chadha, M/s. Jai Bhagwati Rice Gram Udyog Samiti, M/s. JST Pipes, M/s. Bharat Electronics Ltd., M/s. SR Digiprint Solutions, M/s. RTS Holidays And Resorts, M/s. P.P Rolling Mills Manufacturing Co Pvt Ltd., Gurdev Infra Project Private Limited, M/s. Ajmer Malik And Associates, M/s. Shree Krishna Impex, M/s. Aman Trading Company, M/s. Apex Agencies Proprietorship Aman Singh Kakar, A.R. Enterprises, Jagbir Singh Sokhi, M/s. Attar Logistics Private Limited, M/s Swati Industries, M/s. New Chetinder Trading Co., M/s. J.B.D. Diesels, M/s. New Chetinder Trading Co., M/s. Hero Valves, Ceigall India Limited, R.K. Steel Rolling Mills Thr Partner Raman Khosla, M/s. Manpower Prime Solutions, M/s. Dhanush Metals, M/s. KTS Ventures, M/s. The Mohali Club, M/s. B.B.N Engineering, M/s. S.D. Engineers Tech Private Limited, M/s. A.B. Sugars, M/s. Vijay Laxmi And General Mills And Others, Kapotech In....
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....ose, Advocate. For the Petitioners: Mr. Rose Gupta, Advocate with Ms. Garima Modi, Ms. Hardeep Kaur, Ms. Yashika Walia, Advocates in CWP-9956-2024 and CWP-20830-2024. For the Petitioner(s) in CWP-12057-2024: Mr. Jatin Harjai, Advocate, Mr. Mohit Soni, Advocate and Mr. Rohan Agarwal, Advocate,. For the Petitioner(s): Mr. J.S. Bedi, Advocate and Mr. Samyak Jain, Advocate, in CWPs No.13024, 12987, 14138, 18310, 18280, 18357, 18312, 18332, 19505, 18330, 18313, 18346, 18285, 25797, 21967, 22733, 18342, 19515, 18306, 21050, 21048, 21047, 21466, 21436, 21439, 21481, 29416, 25749, 27765, 21453, 21037, 16019, 23560, 16032, 16024, 16049, 16056, 16033, 16820, 31371, 25270, 22697, 32733, 32738, 32726, 24567, 24566, 16675, 25697, 21980, 24549, 24525, 21991, 24009, 25785, 22695, 24032, 24023, 30616, 23119, 23114, 30381 of 2024. For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Sushil K. Bhardwaj, Advocate for Mr. Piyush Bansal, Advocate in CWPs-10216, 11358, 31640, 31641, 20386, 653, 3710, 27606, 29398, 31387, 9395, 22334 of 2024 For the Petitioner(s) in CWP-29420-2024: Mr. Mukul Singla, Advocate. For the Petitioner: Mr. Tarun Gulati, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Kumar Sambhav, Advocate Mr. Amrinder Singh, ....
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....ioner(s) in CWP-12056-2024. For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Nikhil Goyal, Advocate, Mr. Rana Gurtej Singh, Mr. Mukul Panpher, Mr. Parusha Shridhar, Ms. Kajal Garg, Advocates for the petitioner(s) in CWPs- 31635, 3871, 10569, 14177, 10577, 10589, 11121, 14368, 14346, 3714, 17354, 23567, 22543, 22398, 22400, 22538, 22551, 22558, 22570, 22577, 23127, 3439 of 2024. For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Harsh Goyal, Advocate and Ms. Dipsy Gupta, Advocate for the petitioners in CWP-11362-2024. For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Chetan Jain, Advocate, for the petitioner in CWP-11379-2024, 11377-2024, 29870-2024. For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Rajiv Agnihotri, Advocate, Mr. Mohit Bassi, Advocate, for the petitioner(s) in CWPs-9000, 29624, 29891, 10398, 25731, 16510, 19860, 29745, 30365, 22555, 29741, 25150, 23417, 14210, 29574, 31390, 28313, 28317, 32474 of 2024. For the Petitioner(s): Mr. R.K. Bajaj, Advocate, Mr. Vishal Bajaj, Advocate for the petitioner(s) in CWP-29618-2024. For the Petitioner(s): Ms. Anjali Manish Priyadarshi, Advocate Mr. Priyadarshi Manish, Advocate Mr. Manu Loona, Advocate, for the petitioner(s) in CWPs-23419-23558-2024. For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Varlin Garg, Advocate, fo....
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....DAG, Haryana. For the Respondent(s) - CGST: Mr. Rishabh Kapoor, Sr. Standing Counsel. For the Respondent(s): Mr. Anshuman Chopra, Senior Standing Counsel, with Mr. Deepesh Kakkar, Advocate for respondent No.1in CWP-9816-2024. For the Respondent(s): Mr. Naman Jain, Sr. Standing Counsel for the revenue/Central CGST (in CWP-27811, 27816, 18309, 24659, 10589, 4238 & 31229 of 2024). For the Respondent(s): Mr. Ajay Kalra, Sr. Standing Counsel with Ms. Isha Janjua, Advocate for the revenue in CWP-23560, 10642, 13343, 13356, 19515, 21267, 16820, 28847, 22558, 22577, 23144, 22570, 24558, 19895, 24665, 25150, 23542, 24659, 20384, 31080, 30616, 3005, 25797, 14935, 1656, 16019, 24009, 27765, 25749, 2584, 25697, 23119, 23114, 24036, 8133, 21814, 22859, 1138, 30735, 30228, 29398, 29020, 29015, 20830, 10577, 23127, 3439 of 2024. For the Respondent(s): Mr. Kunal Vinayak, Jr. Standing Counsel for the respondents No.1, 2 and 3 in CWP-9432-2024. For the Respondent(s): Mr. Sarthak Gupta, Jr. Standing Counsel for respondent(s)No.2 and 3 in CWP-18346-2024, CWP-18285-2024 and CWP-18332-2024. for respondents No.1, 3 and 4 in CWP-18313-2024. for the respondents in CWP-30365 & 9923 of 2024....
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....ate Addl. Standing Counsel, Mr. Himanshu Arora, Advocate for the respondent(s) - UT Chandigarh (in CWP-8115-2024 and 8688-2024). For the Respondent(s): Mr. Suman Jain, Senior Standing Counsel and Mr. Shubham Jain, Advocate for respondent- GST Department in CWP-1138, 10493, 13710, 9906, 9590, 1877, 8276, 7131, 11358, 12380, 10216, 11528, 13665, 9395, 8692, 9254, 14230, 13341, 10573, 4151, 9093, 8804, 2989, 8407, 5017, 1140, 9678, 7155, 11366, 11212, 10982, 8135, 9956, 16154, 15170, 16055, 15783, 7427, 16513, 16510, 16784, 16338, 14728, 24720, 17223, 9000, 21267, 22543, 22558, 22570, 23127, 14935, 24036, 20386, 28033, 16820, 19515, 29398, 24394, 16820, 23560, 8671, 18335, 31884 and 21270 of 2024. For the Respondent(s): Mr. Alankrit Bhardwaj, Advocate, for CBIC and UOI in CWPs-2989, 5079, 4747, 4774, 4942, 3737, 3435, 6065, 6381, 6994, 7158, 6807, 7544, 8055, 8135, 8193, 8293, 8295, 8579, 8688, 8676, 8684, 8997, 9075, 9274, 9282, 6634, 1138, 9678, 9809, 9953, 13579,10501, 9284 and 13341 of 2024. For the Respondent(s): Dr. Sukant Gupta, Advocate Sr. Standing Counsel for CBIC in CWP-5985, 6612, 10092, 10577, 10933, 10713, 11790, 14177, 23542, 21957 of 2024. For the Responden....
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....icle 109 of the Constitution of India. The amendment in the GST Act, therefore, must be made by following the procedure specified under Article 109 of the Constitution of India. 6. It is also his submission that the whole world including India, in the year 2020, was suffering from Covid-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as pandemic. The Government of India, because of spreading of COVID-19, in exercise of its power under section 6(2)(i) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, issued first order bearing No. 40-3/2020- DM-I(A) dated 24.03.2020 to take proactive measures to deal with the unprecedented global crisis of covid-19. The above said order dated 24.03.2020 was extended from time to time by the Government of India with necessary modifications. The Government of India vide order dated 21.12.2021 extended the strict guidelines including containment measures upto 28.02.2022. The crisis of pandemic i.e.COVID-19, thus, prevailed upto 28.02.2022. 7. It is further submitted that the worthy President, after considering the pandemic situation, exercised its power under Article 123 of the Constitution of India and promulgated the ordinance namely 'The Tax....
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.... on or before 31st day of December following the end of the concerned financial year. The detail of dates to file annual return is as under: Financial Year Prescribed Date Extended Date 2017-18 31.12.2018 05.02.2020 2018-19 31.12.2019 31.12.2020 2019-20 31.12.2020 31.03.2021 Section 73 (10) of the CGST Act specified time of three years from due date of furnishing of annual return to pass an order thereunder. 11. The GST, in the Parliament, was presented and passed as 'Money Bill' by following the special procedure specified under Article 109 of the Constitution of India. TOLA was neither introduced nor passed in the Parliament as 'Money Bill' by following the special procedure specified under Article 109 of the Constitution of India. TOLA, therefore, was an ordinary Act. It is submitted that object of TOLA was not to amend any Statute including the GST Act. 12. Section 168A was not part of the original CGST Act. Section 168A is inserted in the CGST Act vide section 7 of the TOLA w.e.f. 31.03.2020. TOLA, as stated above, is an ordinary Act. Insertion of section 168A in the CGST Act, vide section 7of the TOLA, amounts to an....
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....fore, subsequent notifications are also invalid because the foundation thereof, is invalid. It is submitted, at cost of repetition, that above said two notifications dated 03.04.2020 & 01.05.2021 are the very basis of impugned three notifications and the said two notifications, in view of submissions made hereinabove, are invalid, therefore, the subsequent three impugned notifications are also invalid because the very foundation thereof, is invalid. 16. The Central Government issued impugned 3 notifications beyond the ambit of section 168A of the GST Act because it: i) nowhere reveals the existence of COVID-19 at time of issuance thereof; and ii) nowhere reveals that implementation of Section 73 (10) of the Act was affected because of Covid at the time of issuance thereof. The impugned three notifications are not fulfilling the necessary requirement(s) of section 168A of the CGST Act, therefore, are beyond the ambit of section 168A of the CGST Act. The GST authorities, during years 2020-21 & 2021-22, did their field work by registering the cases, arresting the tax evaders and by making recoveries. The GST authorities, therefore, can't say that implementa....
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....€¢ Section 168A of the GST Act empowers the government to issue notification thereunder. Section 2(6) of the U.T of the GST Act defines 'Government' as 'Administrator or authority or officer authorized to act as Administrator'. • Section 168A read with section 2(6) of the U.T GST Act does not empower the central Government to issue notification thereunder. Notifications issued by the Central Government for the purpose of U.T GST Act, therefore, are illegal being suffering from vice of proper and valid authority because the central Government does not come under definition of 'Government' as defined under section 2(6) U.T GST Act. Punjab GST Act: • The State Legislature, vide Section 12 of the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Act, 2020, inserts section 168A in the Punjab GST Act w.e.f. 15.10.2020. The State Government failed to appoint date for section 12 of the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Act, 2020. Section 168A of the PGST Act, therefore, did not come into force. Contention is fortified with fact that the state legislature, vide section 38 of the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) ....
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....dated 28.12.2023 was issued. The counsel placed heavy reliance on the source of power of the GIC i.e. the recommendation in the 14th and 22nd GST Council Meetings held on 18/19.05.2017 and 06.10.2017 respectively. The 22nd GST Council Meeting recommended modifying the procedure for the GIC to look into urgent procedural issues. 22. At this juncture it is apposite to recollect the state of GST readiness and implementation in India in FY-2017-18. It is in this background that the GIC was setup. The procedural issues plaguing the implementation of GST were sought to be addressed by the GIC. It is submitted that the aspects as to whether the time period for passing an order is to be extended and by how much, is a substantive policy issue and beyond the remit of the GIC. The specific stand of the Department before the Hon'ble Allahabad High Court in respect of the challenge to Notification No. 9/2023 dated 31.03.2023 was that the consideration of the extension of limitation is a policy matter and cannot be questioned in a writ court. The Hon'ble Court held that the same is a legislative function. He has relied on the decision of M/s Graziano Trasmissioni v. Goods and Service ....
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....separate powers on the Central Government and Board under different provisions of CGST Act. For illustration purposes - Section 164 empowers the Central Government to make the rules by notification for carrying out the provisions of the CGST Act. While Section 165 confers the power on Board to make regulations under the CGST Act. There are various instances under the CGST Act where different functions have been entrusted to the Board and the Central Government. 25. He relies on Carborundum Universal Ltd. v. Union of India, (1966) 61 ITR 269, wherein the Hon'ble Madras High Court has held that the Central Government and Central Board of Direct Taxes ('CBDT') are two different authorities and therefore, it is not open to CBDT to exercise the powers conferred by the statute on the Central Government Boards. Act itself make a distinction between the Central Government and Central Board of Direct Taxes. Relying on Carborundum (supra), the Hon'ble Madras High Court gave the same finding in G. Kuppuswamy Naidu Memorial Sports Trust v. Commissioner of Income-Tax and Another, (1975) 99 ITR 530. The Board and Government are separately defined under the CGST Act. Thus, the ....
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.... Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020, and later incorporated into the CGST Act, empowers the Government to extend timelines for GST compliance during extraordinary situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board vide Circular No. 157/13/2021-GST dated July 20, 2021 (Pages 48-50 of the Compilation), clarified that the Supreme Court's suo motu order dated April 27, 2021, applies only to judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings, such as appeals, revisions, and petitions, and not to original adjudication or statutory compliance activities. These compliance activities remain governed by the timelines prescribed under the GST Act and relevant notifications. 31. Pursuant to 168A and the Circular No. 157/13/2021-GST dated July 20, 2021 the GST council issued various notifications extending the time to file GST returns and timelines for other procedural compliances. Further, Notification 13/2022- Central Tax dated 05.07.2022 and Notification No. 09/2023-Central Tax dated 31.03.2023have been issued after recommendation from the GST Council for extending time limits for issuing adjudication order under Section 73 (10) as indicated in the table supra. Assuming without admitting that the....
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.... 56/2023 dated December 28, 2023, was issued without any recommendation to the GST Council. It was issued by the GST Implementation Committee (GIC), which lacks the authority to issue such notifications without the matter being proposed and decided upon by the GST Council. In the 21^St GST Council meeting, reiterated in the 45" meeting on September 17, 2021,(Pg 108 Para 7.9 of the compilation) it is explicitly stated that the GIC could decide only procedural matters and that for substantial policy-related issues, the GIC must send its recommendations to the GST Council, where decisions must be made through voting during a physical or virtual meeting. Therefore, ratifying a notification issued without recommendation to the counsel is opposed to law. 35. Further, retrospective ratification of a notification is valid only if the notification was initially issued following the due procedure established by the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the GST Council, as adopted during the 1StGST Council meeting held on September 22-23, 2016. Additionally, in the 22^nd GST Council meeting held on 01.10.2017, it was deliberated that the ratification of the notifications issued on ....
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.... the due date of furnishing Annual Returns for the Financial Year for which tax not paid or tax short part or ITC wrongly availed or utilized relates to or within three years from the erroneous refunds further, as per Section 73 (2) the proper officer shall issue notice at least three months prior to the timeline specified under Section 73 (10) for passing an order. Accordingly, for the Financial Years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, the last date for passing an order and issuance of a show cause notice is summarized as under: Financial Year Due date of Annual Return Last date to pass order Last date to issue notice 2017-18 05.02.2020^1 05.02.2023 04.11.2022 2018-19 31.12.2020^2 31.12.2023 30.09.2023 2019-20 31.03.2021^3 31.03.2024 30.12.2023 39. In respect of vires of Section 168-A, learned counsel submits that Section 168A has been inserted in the CGST Act and State GST Act vide Section 7 of the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 dated 29.09.2020. Section 168A has been inserted for the purpose of extension of time limit specified or prescribed or notified under the Act in respect of a....
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....t. As per Article 279A (4), the scope of work of GST Council has also been defined which includes any other matter relating to Goods and Services Tax as the Council may decide. Article 279A (9) prescribes the procedure for making any decision. As per the said procedure, any decision of GST Council shall be taken at a meeting, by a majority of not less than 3/4th of the weighted votes of the Members present and voting while determining such weight, the following principles shall be adhered to: i. The vote of Central Government shall have weightage of one third of the total votes cast; and ii. The votes of all the State Governments taken together shall have a weightage of two-thirds of the total votes cast, in that meeting. 42. It is further submitted that the term "recommendation" has not been defined under any Act or the constitution. However, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of V.M. Kurain v. State of Kerala (2001) 4 SCC 215, para 7. held that the word recommendation is "a statement expressing commendation or a message of this nature". It was further held that since the relevant act did not define recommendation, it had to be understood in the context....
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....nsferred to the GIC for a limited purpose. Thereafter, 17th GST Council Meeting was held on 18.06.2017, wherein, certain urgent decisions were delegated to the GIC. It was discussed that after the roll out of GST on 01.07.2017, certain urgent decisions may be required to be taken, which require the approval of the GST Council. However, the GST Council may not always be available and it may not be possible to call a meeting of the GST Council again and again on short notices. Therefore, the GST Council may delegate powers to GIC to decide urgent matters. The decisions taken by GIC would be circulated among the Council Members and their views/comments shall be sought within two days. After suitably incorporating the suggestions, view of the Council Members, the decision would be implemented after taking the approval of the Chairman of the GST Council. Such decision taken by the GIC with the approval of the Chairperson of GST Council would be put up for information of the Council in the next Council Meeting. 44. The 22nd GST Council Meeting took place, wherein one of the Agenda was to recommend a procedure for implementing GIC decisions of urgent nature requiring immediate implemen....
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.... certain timelines. It is pertinent to mention that the said order has been passed using powers under Article 141 of the Constitution of India. The powers under the said Article can be exercised only where there is no law with regards to a particular situation. 47. It is further submission that as discussed above, the Parliament had already inserted Section 168A to the CGST Act, 2017, whereby a law was brought into force making the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court inapplicable. Reliance in this regard is also made upon the Circular issued by the CBIC dated 20.07.2021 bearing No. 157/13/2021/GST whereby it has been clarified that the extension granted by the Supreme Court would not be applicable to proceedings that need to be initiated or compliances that need to be done by the tax payer. It has been further clarified that these actions would be governed by the Statute itself. Thus, it is submitted that even the Department is of the opinion that the extension by the Supreme Court would not be applicable in the present case. During the existence of Covid 19 pandemic the Respondent Department issued multiple Notifications extending the period of limitation. One such Notificat....
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....der Section 73 for the FY 2017-18 for the issuance of order in respect of demand linked with due date of annual return may be extended till 30th September 2023". The minutes further note that the Council agreed with the recommendations of the Law Committee. 50. In this regard, it is most humbly submitted that making such recommendations is beyond the defined scope of power of the law committee as discussed in para 7 wherein the role of the law committee is limited to draft non-tariff notifications only and not to make recommendations to the GST council. The casual manner in which the recommendations of the law committee have been approved reveals non-application of mind on part of the GST Council which is entrusted with the function of recommending such notifications and not to be merely a rubber stamp authority. Secondly, the COVID period was already over by the time the Council approved the recommendation of the Law Committee to extend the period of limitation using the powers available under Section 168A. Section 168A contemplates the existence of the force majeure and does not provide for extension of limitation even after the situation of force majeure is already over. Such....
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....1.03.2023 53. Learned counsel further stated that the GST Council in its 49th meeting held on 18.02.2023 in its Agenda Item 4(vii) once again discussed the recommendation of the Law Committee to further extend the period on limitation for passing order under Section 73 for the FY 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. It is pertinent to mention here that there was no change in circumstances whatsoever as from the 47th GST Council meeting, but still the Law Committee proceeded to recommend the extension of the time limit on the ground of delay in scrutiny and audit. The GST Council further notes that time period for passing the orders should be extended only till for three more months as otherwise it would create a perception that it is not a tax friendly measure and against the interest of the taxpayers. That again without the existence of ongoing force majeure, the Government extended the period of limitation vide notification no. 09/2023-Central Tax dated 31.03.2023. The said notification was again issued without the whiff of existence of COVID-19 and the new period of limitations stood extended (on the recommendation of the law committee and rubber stamp of the GST Council) as under: ....
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....e notification issued by the Union of India was ratified by the GST Council in its 53rd meeting held on 22.06.2024. The relevant agenda (agenda item 4(d)) to the 53rd GST Council Meeting would reveal that the issue of extension of limitation to pass order under Section 73 was deliberated by the '2nd National Coordination Meeting of the Central and the State Tax Authorities' under the Chairmanship of the revenue Secretary on 14.12.2023. In the said meeting, various States raised the issue that due to Covid-19 restrictions assessments, scrutiny and audit could not take place in time. Further, due to amnesty schemes provided by the government in form of waiver of late fee for delayed filing of returns, allowing filing applications for revocation of cancellation of registration, a number of returns were filed during the period of amnesty, followed by assessment and scrutiny of returns. Therefore, it was requested that the time period for issuance of order under section 73 may be further extended. Further, the matter was deliberated by the "Law Committee" in its meeting held on 20.10.2023. the Law Committee recommended that the limitation under Section 73 for issuance of order m....
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.... period of limitation was consciously extended only for a limited period. Moreover, as per the provisions of the CGST Act, 2017, the department has multiple provisions for assessment of the monthly returns of the assessees which have been filed much prior to the last date of the annual return. b. Amnesty scheme for waiver of late fee The amnesty scheme for waiver of late fee in no way entitle the assesees to file a return beyond the prescribed time and amounts only to a waiver of fee levied on account of late furnishing of monthly returns and has no nexus with force majeure under Section 168A. c. Amnesty scheme for restoration of cancellation of registration The amnesty scheme for restoration of cancellation of registration also has no nexus with the force majeure clause under Section 168A. Even otherwise, the assessees whose registrations were cancelled could not have conducted any business without having a valid registration and even if they have filed a return subsequently, it would be of "Nil" as no business could have been conducted by them. Thus, all the reasons submitted by the '2nd National Coordination Meeting of the Central and t....
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....owever, the notification dated 06.02.2023 has been issued with a retrospective effect from 01.03.2020 which was essentially not even in existence even in the State of Punjab was within its power to notify Section 168A with a retrospective effect. The moot question in this scenario would be that as on the date when the notifications were issued by the State of Punjab, Section 168A was not in existence under the PGST Act, 2017. Section 168A has been inserted only w.e.f. 31.03.2023 whereas the notification dated 06.02.2023 has been given an effect from 01.03.2023, when Section 168A was not in existence under the Punjab Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. 61. In the light of the aforesaid contentions, learned counsel for the petitioners have prayed that the present bunch of writ petitions may be allowed and the impugned notifications may be quashed. It is further prayed that this Court may permit the petitioners to urge the additional grounds taken in the writ petitions. 62. These bunch of cases were heard at length by us and the judgment was reserved. 63. It is noticed that by the interim order, this Court had protected the petitioners by passing the following order in these co....