Refund of excess IGST paid on export of cashew kernels - Clerical error in GSTR-3B reporting - Retention of tax without authority of law Entitlement to refund of IGST paid twice on export of cashew kernels after erroneous reporting of zero-rated supplies in GSTR-3B - HELD THAT: - The export details and IGST liability had been correctly reflected in GSTR-1, but the export turnover and tax were wrongly reported under the column applicable to supplies other than zero-rated supplies in GSTR-3B. A... ... ...

Statutory authority not constituting local authority under GST - Concessional GST rate for works contract services supplied to Kerala Water Authority - Interest on differential GST paid through electronic credit ledger Statutory authority not constituting local authority under GST - Concessional GST rate for works contract services supplied to Kerala Water Authority - Eligibility of works contract services supplied to Kerala Water Authority for the concessional GST rate after 1-1-2022 - HELD ... ... ...

Detention penalty for diversion of goods without specified statutory contravention - Natural justice in GST detention proceedings - Appellate non-application of mind to natural justice objections Detention penalty for diversion of goods without specified statutory contravention - Sustainability of penalty for alleged unloading of iron and steel goods at an undeclared destination, without a specific charge of contravention of the Act or Rules - HELD THAT: - Liability under the detention provis... ... ...

Revocation of cancellation of GST registration - Payment of interest, late fee and penalty for return default Revocation of cancellation of GST registration - Payment of interest, late fee and penalty for return default - Revocation of GST registration cancelled for non-furnishing of returns where tax had been paid but interest, late fee and penalty remained unpaid. - HELD THAT: - The proviso to Rule 23(1) requires, in a case of cancellation for failure to furnish returns, not merely furnishi... ... ...

Inverted duty refund for processed fabrics using higher-taxed inputs - Consequential recomputation of refund by appellate authority Inverted duty refund for processed fabrics using higher-taxed inputs - Inapplicability of Circular No. 135/05/2020-GST to supplies without GST-rate reduction - Eligibility for refund of accumulated input tax credit under inverted duty structure where fabrics are processed on job-work basis using higher-taxed chemicals, dyes and consumables, while the output suppl... ... ...

Inverted-duty refund on processed fabrics - credit-note adjustment to turnover - Inverted-duty refund on processed fabrics - scope of identical input-output supplies restriction - Consequential recomputation of refund - prohibition on appellate remand Credit notes - exclusion from turnover for inverted-duty refund - Treatment of credit notes issued in respect of returned or rejected supplies while computing turnover for refund of accumulated input tax credit on processed fabrics - HELD THAT: ... ... ...

Outsourced hospital food supply and composite healthcare services - Failure to establish fraud or suppression - Cum-tax valuation of untaxed food supplies Composite supply of healthcare services - Outsourced hospital food supply - Taxability of food supplied by an outsourced caterer to a hospital for consumption by in-patients, claimed as part of composite healthcare services. - HELD THAT: - A composite supply requires two or more taxable supplies that are naturally bundled and supplied toget... ... ...

Statutory limit on condonation of delay in GST registration appeals - Maintainability of departmental appeal after implementation of impugned order Statutory limit on condonation of delay by appellate authority - Jurisdiction of the First Appellate Authority to condone delay in appeals against cancellation of GST registration beyond the outer limit prescribed under Section 107(4) of the Act. - HELD THAT: - The extraordinary and equitable jurisdiction exercised by a High Court under Article 22... ... ...

Vested right of appeal - Prospective application of pre-deposit requirement in penalty-only appeals Vested right of appeal - Prospective application of pre-deposit requirement in penalty-only appeals - Applicability of the post-amendment pre-deposit requirement to a penalty-only appeal arising from a pre-amendment show-cause notice. - HELD THAT: - The right of appeal was held to be a substantive right vesting when the lis is instituted. A subsequent amendment imposing a fresh pre-deposit burd... ... ...

Effective opportunity of hearing in input tax credit adjudication - Input tax credit eligibility despite GSTR-3B/GSTR-2A mismatch - Intra-State supply of immovable-property renting-incorrect IGST reporting Effective opportunity of hearing in input tax credit adjudication - Remand in the interests of natural justice - Effective opportunity of hearing in adjudication of the disputed input tax credit demand. - HELD THAT: - Although the appellant had not appeared despite the opportunities before ... ... ...

E-way bill validity extension - Penalty for expired e-way bill E-way bill validity extension - Penalty for expired e-way bill - Imposition of a 200% penalty for transport of goods where the e-way bill had expired shortly after the permissible period for its extension. - HELD THAT: - Although detention and penalty may follow transport in contravention of the statutory requirements, the e-way bill rule permits extension in exceptional circumstances and allows a further eight-hour period after e... ... ...

GST show cause notices-clubbing of multiple financial years GST show cause notices-clubbing of multiple financial years - Validity of the GST assessment order covering July 2017 to March 2023 by clubbing more than one financial year. - HELD THAT: - Following the earlier common order, the Court held that GST proceedings must be initiated with reference to the applicable tax period and that a show cause notice or order cannot be clubbed for more than one financial year. An order so passed is wi... ... ...

Fraudulent GST registrations - registrations obtained through misuse of PAN and Aadhaar particulars - Biometric-based Aadhaar authentication HELD THAT: - The material before the Court showed that biometric-based Aadhaar authentication was then confined to registrations identified by the system as risky, despite the continuing problem of fraudulent registrations using stolen or frozen identity particulars. As the respondents could not identify any difficulty in making such authentication ma... ... ...

E-way bill rules permit validity extensions in exceptional circumstances and provide a further eight-hour window after expiry to seek extension. Transport after that period may justify detention and penalty, but a brief delay in renewing the e-way bill does not necessarily warrant a 200% penalty. Where interception occurred shortly after the additional extension window, comparable decisions supported relief while recognising that the lapse could still attract a nominal sanction. The 200% penalty orders were set aside, subject to payment of a token fine and refund of the balance penalty deposit.

Input tax credit claimed in GSTR-3B but not reflected in GSTR-2A requires category-wise and invoice-wise reconciliation; invoices alone or supplier default do not establish entitlement, while the entire mismatch cannot be disallowed without verification. Supplier certificates may be considered under the applicable circular but must be verified, and reverse-charge credit and tax-head or B2B-to-B2C reporting errors require independent examination. Effective opportunity of hearing is required before adjudication. Renting of immovable property is supplied where the property is located; where the supplier and property are in the same State, CGST and SGST credit remains available despite erroneous IGST reporting if tax is paid and no revenue loss arises.

The vested right of appeal arises when the lis is instituted, and a later amendment imposing a fresh pre-deposit obligation does not apply to pending proceedings without clear legislative intent. Where a penalty-only appeal arose from a show-cause notice issued before the amended proviso took effect, the post-amendment pre-deposit requirement could not be imposed. The Registry's objection was set aside, the appeal was admitted without pre-deposit, and jurisdictional and merits issues remained open for final hearing.

Section 107(4) of the GST law fixes an outer limit on an appellate authority's power to condone delay in appeals against cancellation of registration. Extraordinary writ jurisdiction cannot enlarge that statutory appellate jurisdiction; condonation beyond the prescribed maximum is legally unsustainable. Where the Department has implemented appellate directions by restoring cancelled GST registrations, it cannot seek annulment without addressing the resulting alteration of the taxpayers' legal and commercial position. The departmental appeals consequently become infructuous where no effective or workable relief remains available.

Food supplied by an independent outsourced caterer to a hospital is a separate taxable supply, not a composite healthcare supply, because the caterer contracts only to supply food and cannot rely on the healthcare-provider clarification. Reliance on that clarification, although legally incorrect, does not by itself establish fraud, wilful misstatement, or suppression with intent to evade tax; the demand must therefore proceed under the ordinary tax-demand route. Where invoices did not separately identify or collect tax, the invoiced consideration is tax-inclusive and differential tax must be recomputed using cum-tax valuation after invoice verification.

Credit notes for returned or rejected processed-fabric supplies are excluded from outward taxable supply turnover when calculating an inverted-duty refund of accumulated input tax credit. The identical input-output supplies clarification is confined to accumulation caused by a rate reduction on the same goods over time; it does not apply where higher-taxed chemicals and dyes are used to process fabrics taxed at a lower rate without an output-rate reduction. Once refund eligibility and computational parameters are determined, consequential re-quantification is ministerial, does not reopen the merits, and does not constitute an appellate remand.

Refund of accumulated input tax credit under an inverted duty structure remains available where processed fabrics retain the same GST rate and credit accumulates from higher-taxed chemicals, dyes and consumables used in job-work processing. Circular No. 135/05/2020-GST concerns credit accumulation caused by a GST-rate reduction on the same goods and does not bar such refund claims. Once substantive refund eligibility is determined, an appellate direction for arithmetical recomputation merely implements that determination and is not a prohibited remand, provided the original authority cannot reconsider the merits. Refund orders allowing consequential recalculation were sustained.