TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (8) TMI 634
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....ounsel for the respondent No. 2, Mr. P.K. Bhaduri, learned Deputy Advocate General for the respondent No. 3/State, Ms. Ankita Gourha, learned counsel for the respondent No. 4/Income Tax Department. 2. By this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners seek for the following relief(s): "10.1. Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction, particularly in the nature of Mandamus, directing Respondent Nos. 2 to 4 to conduct a fair, impartial, independent and time-bound investigation into the complaints submitted by the petitioner regarding the alleged large-scale GST and Income Tax evasion by Respondent Nos. 5 to 7, taking into consideration the documentary evidence annexed with the present petition. 10.2. Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction directing Respondent Nos. 2 to 4 to complete the proceedings initiated pursuant to the petitioner's complaints and to take the same to their logical conclusion strictly in accordance with law, after affording due opportunity to all concerned. 10.3. Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction directing Respondent Nos. 2 to 4 to examine all the business transactions, agreemen....
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....formation supplied by the petitioner was found sufficient by the Department to warrant a detailed investigation. During the course of investigation, the GST Department also issued summons to respondent Manoj Sarogi, Director/Partner of M/s R.K. Structure Pvt. Ltd. and M/s R.K. Ispat, directing him to appear before the authorities at Raipur on 18.07.2023 in connection with the enquiry relating to tax evasion. The petitioner thereafter furnished documentary evidence before the GST authorities further demonstrating the alleged suppression of turnover and clandestine sale of scrap by respondent Nos. 5 to 7. Such documents included weighbridge slips (Dharam Kanta Parchis), affidavits of Mr. Mohammad Shafiq, who worked as contractor/labour associated with the business of Manoj Sarogi, affidavit of Mr. Mohammad Farhan Khan regarding purchases made from Manoj Sarogi, and documents relating to transactions undertaken with OM Traders and Poddar. The documents reveal that approximately 225 MT of scrap valued at around Rs. 90,00,000/- was sold to Mr. Farhan Khan and Poddar without proper tax compliance. According to the petitioner, the GST and Income Tax liability arising from such transaction....
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....reby causing enormous financial loss to the State of Chhattisgarh as well as the Union of India. 4. Despite the petitioner having supplied detailed documentary evidence to the competent authorities, no effective action has been communicated to him. On the contrary, when the petitioner sought information regarding the progress of the enquiry and the action taken against respondent Nos. 5 to 7, the GST Department declined to furnish the same. Consequently, the petitioner submitted an application dated 06.11.2024, followed by a First Appeal before the office of the Director General of GST Intelligence, Raipur. By communication dated 07.01.2025, the appellate authority informed the petitioner that the requested information could not be disclosed. According to the petitioner, despite the availability of substantial documentary evidence, the inaction of the respondent authorities raises serious apprehension regarding failure to effectively investigate the alleged large-scale tax evasion. Payment of GST and Income Tax is a statutory obligation of every assessee and forms the backbone of public finance. Deliberate evasion of such taxes not only violates the provisions of law but also ca....
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....d attempt to obtain the very same relief by improving the pleadings and, therefore, amounts to an abuse of the process of law. The allegations made in the petition relate to disputed questions of fact concerning alleged tax evasion by private parties, the correctness of business transactions, books of accounts, GST returns, invoices, e-way bills and other commercial records, all of which fall exclusively within the statutory domain of the competent authorities under the GST laws and the Income Tax Act. The petitioner cannot seek a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to conduct the investigation in a particular manner, supervise the enquiry, examine specified documents or recover alleged tax liabilities based upon his own assumptions and estimates. The statutory authorities are empowered to initiate and conduct such enquiries in accordance with law, and the petitioner has no enforceable right to monitor or participate in those proceedings or to seek disclosure of confidential investigative material. Mere non-disclosure of the status of any enquiry to the petitioner cannot give rise to a presumption that no action has been taken, particularly when proceedings relating to tax i....
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....that the respondent authorities have completely failed to exercise their statutory powers or have acted with mala fides. On the contrary, the pleadings themselves disclose that enquiries were initiated by the GST authorities and summons were issued to various persons in connection therewith. Merely because the petitioner was not informed about the progress or outcome of such proceedings cannot furnish a cause for issuance of a writ of mandamus, particularly when investigations relating to taxation statutes are governed by statutory confidentiality. 9. We also find that the petitioner had earlier approached this Court by filing Writ Petition (Tax) No.56 of 2025 seeking substantially similar reliefs, which came to be dismissed on the ground that he lacked the requisite locus standi. The present petition has been instituted as a Public Interest Litigation without there being any change in the nature of the controversy. Merely describing the petition as a PIL cannot overcome the fundamental defect in maintainability when the dispute essentially concerns alleged tax evasion by identified private parties and the petitioner seeks to monitor the statutory investigation. 10. Having re....