Stay of disputed income-tax demand - reasoned exercise of discretion Rejection of the application for stay of recovery of disputed income-tax demand solely on pendency of appeal and non-payment of the prescribed percentage of demand - HELD THAT: - A stay application could not be rejected mechanically by merely referring to the pending appeal, absence of a stay order and non-payment under the applicable circular. The authority was required to record consideration of the merits relevant to gran... ... ...

Turnover of zero-rated supply for export refund - Net input tax credit for export refund Turnover of zero-rated supply for export refund - Export invoices issued during relevant period - Inclusion in turnover of zero-rated supply of invoices issued during the relevant period where the goods were exported thereafter - HELD THAT: - For refund under rule 89(4), Net ITC, turnover of zero-rated supply and adjusted total turnover must relate to the same relevant period. In an export supply involvin... ... ...

Reasoned and speaking orders in appellate tax adjudication - Consideration of material grounds of appeal Validity of appellate orders affirming GST demands without adjudicating the material grounds and precedents raised, and the remedial course where the original adjudication was ex parte - HELD THAT: - Recording reasons is indispensable to fair quasi-judicial decision-making. The appellate authority merely held that satisfactory evidence had not been produced and confirmed the original order... ... ...

Input tax credit on supplies from retrospectively cancelled supplier - Transaction-specific proof of input tax credit ineligibility Admissibility of limited input tax credit on invoices issued by a supplier whose registration was retrospectively cancelled, after considering subsequent amendments in the GST records - HELD THAT: - The statutory conditions for input tax credit had to be examined with reference to the facts and evidence concerning the particular transactions. Retrospective cancel... ... ...

Additional court fees on GST first appeals under State law - Liability to pay additional court fees on a GST first appeal filed before the Kerala State appellate authority HELD THAT: - The levy of additional court fees on GST first appeals before State authorities stood settled by the Kerala High Court in AKAY FLAVOURS AND AROMATICS PVT LTD [2020 (8) TMI 208 - KERALA HIGH COURT] before the filing of the appeal. Although the statutory appeal provision specifies the pre-deposit required for fil... ... ...

Interlocutory relief in an unregistered appeal - Expedited scrutiny of appeal Consideration of stay and early-hearing relief in an interlocutory application before scrutiny and registration of the statutory appeal. - HELD THAT: - Rule 29 contemplates interlocutory relief in a pending matter. Since the appeal was still under scrutiny and had not been registered, substantive relief in the application could be considered only after registration. The urgency shown warranted expeditious completion... ... ...

Input tax credit - GSTR-2A mismatch for FY 2018-19 - Supplier certificate for B2B supplies reported as B2C - Burden of proving input tax credit eligibility - Set-off across IGST, CGST and SGST credit heads - Additional evidence and remand in input tax credit proceedings - Interest on wrongly availed and utilised input tax credit - Penalty under non-fraud input tax credit proceedings Input tax credit - GSTR-2A mismatch for FY 2018-19 - Supplier certificate for B2B supplies reported as B2C - Bu... ... ...

Penalty for expired e-way bill - Mens rea for section 129 penalty Validity of penalty under section 129 for transportation with an expired e-way bill resulting from an erroneous consignor PIN code - HELD THAT: - Although section 129 does not expressly stipulate mens rea, it is a measure to prevent tax evasion and must be applied accordingly. The Board's instructions identifying cases in which section 129 need not be invoked are binding on the proper officer. The consignment was accompa... ... ...

E-way bill Part-B omission - penalty u/s 129 - intent to evade tax Liability to penalty u/s 129 for non-updation of Part-B of an e-way bill where the movement was supported by genuine tax documents - HELD THAT: - The Tribunal held that strict-liability rulings under the legacy manual check-post regime did not govern the integrated electronic GST framework. Section 129 is directed against active attempts to evade tax; a technical or procedural omission in Part-B, where the invoice, Part-A and ... ... ...

Penalty for non-filling of Part-B of e-way bill-mens rea to evade tax - Detention proceedings-mandatory final speaking order in Form GST MOV-09 Validity of penalty under section 129 for transport of customised self-adhesive labels with Part-B of the e-way bill unfilled, despite genuine invoices and Part-A particulars - HELD THAT: - Section 129 could not be mechanically invoked for a technical or clerical documentation omission. Conversely, the jurisprudence developed under the GST era-exem... ... ...

Waiver of interest on delayed payment of self-assessed tax - Classification between disputed tax and self-assessed tax - Interest on self-assessed tax liability Eligibility for waiver of interest on belated deposit of self-assessed GST liability under the statutory waiver scheme - HELD THAT: - The waiver contemplated by Section 128A, as clarified by the Circular, applies to proceedings initiated under Section 73. Interest on delayed payment of admitted self-assessed tax arises under Section 5... ... ...

Defects pointed out in the Impugned Order - Input Tax Credit availed on blocked credit under Section 17(5) of the respective GST enactments, tax payable under the reverse charge mechanism on residential buildings AND omission of turnover based on the comparison with Form 26AS HELD THAT:- As such, there is no scope for interfering with the impugned order. Further, the petitioner, having admitted to the tax liability insofar as the first two defects are concerned, shall pay the interest and pen... ... ...

Validity of Assessment Order - petitioner has also been asked to pay interest and penalty under Sections 50 ad 73 of the respective GST enactments - case of the petitioner is that on zero rated supply, the petitioner is entitled to refund in terms of Section 16(2) of IGST r/w 54 of CGST/TNGST Act HELD THAT:- No procedural irregularity committed by the respondent while passing the impugned order. Therefore, this Writ Petition is liable to be dismissed. At this distant point of time, the tim... ... ...

Section 74 proceedings for input tax credit mismatch - Invocation of section 74 in respect of mismatch between input tax credit claimed in GSTR-3B returns and that reflected in GSTR-2A HELD THAT: - On examining the show cause notice and the impugned order, the Court found that the ingredients for invoking section 74 were not satisfied. Reconsideration was consequently required under section 73. [Paras 4, 7] The impugned order was set aside and the matter remanded for fresh proceedings unde... ... ...

Cancellation of GST registration for non-disclosure of bank details - Curable procedural non-compliance under GST law - Opportunity to cure GST registration non-compliance - HELD THAT: - The Court held that cancellation of GST registration has severe civil consequences and that the object of GST law is compliance rather than punishment. As the allegation was confined to non-disclosure of bank details and multiple registrations linked to a joint bank account, and not to fraud, fake invoices, c... ... ...

Bar on parallel GST proceedings on the same subject matter - Opportunity of hearing in ex parte GST adjudication - Constitutional validity of input tax credit conditional upon payment of tax by supplier Bar on parallel GST proceedings on the same subject matter - Applicability of the statutory bar on parallel GST proceedings to demand proceedings concerning alleged wrongful availment and passing on of input tax credit - HELD THAT: - The statutory bar operates only where proceedings under the ... ... ...

Service of GST notices through Common Portal - Condonation of delay in GST appeals under writ jurisdiction Delayed GST appeal against an input tax credit demand where the proceedings were uploaded on the common portal without the assessee having effective knowledge thereof - HELD THAT: - The Court accepted the view that a show-cause notice cannot be deemed sufficiently served merely because it was uploaded on the Common Portal where its receipt was not acknowledged and no reply was filed. Tho... ... ...

Service of a GST show-cause notice solely through upload on the Common Portal may be inadequate where receipt is unacknowledged, no reply is filed, and the taxpayer lacks effective knowledge of the proceedings. Although the statutory limitation period binds the appellate authority, writ jurisdiction may address delay caused by circumstances beyond the taxpayer's control where refusing merits adjudication would cause grave injury or prejudice. In the stated circumstances, delay in filing the GST appeal against an input tax credit demand was condoned, the limitation-based dismissal was set aside, and the appellate authority was directed to decide the fresh appeal on merits without raising limitation.

Parallel GST proceedings are barred only where proceedings under the State enactment were initiated earlier and both proceedings concern the same subject matter. Turnover reconciliation based on GSTR-3B and allegations of issuing invoices without supply and wrongly passing input tax credit involve distinct subject matters, so the bar does not apply. Ex parte adjudication does not breach natural justice where hearing notices are properly sent and the noticee neither appears nor provides a substantive reply. Input tax credit may validly be conditional on the supplier's payment of tax, a position affirmed by the Supreme Court. Statutory appellate remedy remains available for objections to the demand without a merits determination.

GST registration cancellation for non-disclosure of bank details and multiple registrations linked to a joint account is addressed as curable procedural non-compliance where fraud, fake invoicing, circular trading and tax evasion are absent. Because cancellation has serious civil consequences and GST law prioritises compliance over punishment, taxpayers willing to furnish correct bank details, file pending returns and pay statutory dues, interest and penalty should receive an opportunity to establish bona fides. Cancellation may be set aside and restoration considered through a reasoned hearing, with restoration conditional on filing pending returns and payment of outstanding dues.