GSTAT Orders IRCTC To Deposit ₹50.41 Crore For Failing To Pass On GST Benefit On Rail Neer

The GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) at Delhi has held that Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) failed to pass on the benefit of a reduction in tax rates on Rail Neer packaged drinking water after GST was introduced in 2017. The tribunal found that although the Railway Board fixed the maximum retail price (MRP), IRCTC had the discretion to determine the transfer price at which it supplied the product to railway licensees and contractors.A special bench comprising...

Gujarat High Court Quashes ₹43.43 Crore GST Demand Against Amul

The Gujarat High Court has recently quashed an IGST demand of ₹43.43 crore against Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Limited, popularly known as Amul. The court held that failure to allocate common expenses to branches through cross-charging does not, by itself, establish fraud or suppression of facts to evade GST.A Division Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Vaibhavi D. Nanavati ruled that the tax authorities had failed to establish the conditions required to invoke Section...

Time Spent In Writ Petition Not Automatically Excluded From GST Appeal Limitation: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has clarified that the time spent pursuing a writ petition cannot be automatically excluded while computing the limitation period for filing a statutory appeal against a GST adjudication order.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Bharat Parashar observed that if an assessee files an application under Section 14 of the Limitation Act, 1963, seeking exclusion of the period during which the writ petition remained pending, the Appellate Authority must consider the...

Calcutta High Court Quashes ₹25.23 Lakh GST Penalty, Orders Release Of Two Detained Trucks

The Calcutta High Court on 14 October quashed GST penalty orders totalling Rs. 25.23 lakh imposed on two detained trucks, holding that the authorities passed the orders beyond the statutory deadline under Section 129(3) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017. A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Aryak Dutt allowed a petition filed by truck owner Permender Singh, holding that the penalty orders were barred by limitation and passed without jurisdiction. He also held: “An appeal under...

GSTAT Delhi Directs Builder To Pay ₹31.20 Lakh To 66 Homebuyers For Failure To Pass On ITC Benefit

The Principal Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) at Delhi, on 30 September directed Mangalbela Real Estates Pvt. Ltd. to pay Rs. 31.20 lakh to 66 homebuyers of its Atri Green Valley Project in Kolkata, along with 18% annual interest. A Single Member Bench of Technical Member Anil Kumar Gupta rejected the company's objections to the re-investigation and held that it had violated Section 171(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017, by failing to pass...

Rajasthan High Court Orders Release Of ₹47.45 Lakh Cash Seized Over Alleged Unaccounted Sales

The Rajasthan High Court on 14 September directed the GST department to release Rs. 47.45 lakh seized during a search of residential premises, along with applicable interest. A Division Bench comprising Justices Arun Monga and Ashutosh Kumar held that Section 67(2) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act does not authorise the seizure of cash merely on suspicion that it represents proceeds from unaccounted sales. It observed: “...the jurisdictional condition of 'reasons to believe'...

Can Companies In Liquidation Seek Exemption From GST Pre-Deposit To File Appeals? Delhi High Court To Examine

The Delhi High Court will examine whether companies undergoing liquidation can seek exemption from the mandatory pre-deposit requirement under Section 107(6) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act. The issue is whether the requirement can be relaxed in view of the statutory distribution mechanism under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).A Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Bharat Parashar requested Additional Solicitor General of India Raghavendra Shankar to assist...

Delhi High Court Allows GST Appeal Without Full Pre-Deposit Over Overlapping Demands

The Delhi High Court has permitted a taxpayer to approach the appellate authority with an application seeking exemption from the statutory pre-deposit requirement, to the extent the GST demand is alleged to overlap with an earlier demand.The division bench of Justices Anil Khetarpal and Bharat Parashar was hearing a plea by M/s Forever Exim India Private Limited seeking restoration of its writ petition challenging a GST order dated August 30, 2024.Petitioner submitted that parallel proceedings...

Bombay High Court Denies Anticipatory Bail To Tax Consultant Accused Of Misusing ₹45 Lakh Meant For GST Payment

The Bombay High Court has refused anticipatory bail to a tax consultant accused of retaining over ₹45 lakh given to him by a client for GST payments and allegedly preparing fake GST bills to show that the amount had been deposited with the government.Justice Madhav J. Jamdar was hearing an anticipatory bail application filed by Rakesh Rajendra Thakur, who was booked under Sections 316(2) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, for criminal breach of trust and cheating.The court...

GSTAT Bengaluru Blocks Resort Construction ITC, Rules Safari Retreats Functionality Test Inapplicable

The Bengaluru Bench of the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) on 30 September held that the functionality test laid down by the Supreme Court in Chief Commissioner of CGST v. Safari Retreats (P) Ltd. cannot be applied to claim Input Tax Credit (ITC) on the construction of a hotel or resort building, particularly after the retrospective amendment to Section 17(5)(d) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Prabhakaran P.M. and Technical Member...

GSTAT Bengaluru Sets Aside ₹20.13 Lakh Penalty On Valuecart For E-Way Bill Lapse, Imposes ₹25,000 Fine

The Bengaluru Bench of the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) on 30 September partly allowed an appeal filed by Valuecart Private Limited against a penalty of Rs. 20,13,640 imposed under Section 129 of the Central and Karnataka Goods and Services Tax Acts, and reduced the penalty to Rs. 25,000 under Section 125 of the GST Acts for the procedural lapse. A Bench comprising Technical Member Sudha Koka and Judicial Member Srikanth Venkatraman held that failure to generate a fresh e-way bill for...

GST Appeals Can't Be Dismissed Without Hearing Taxpayer On Pre-Deposit Shortfall: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on 12 October held that a GST appeal cannot be dismissed for a shortfall in mandatory pre-deposit without first giving the taxpayer notice or an opportunity to rectify the defect. A Division Bench of Justices M.S. Karnik and Sandesh D. Patil set aside the rejection of an appeal filed by Bhagyoday Agro Industries against a GST demand of approximately Rs. 14.77 crore. They observed: “The Appellate Authority ought to have applied the well settled principle that when an...