Pooja Metal Processors Private Limited vs. Union Of INDIA And Ors

Held

The Court held that the issue raised in the present petition is squarely covered by its previous judgment dated 04.11.2019, passed in CWP 30949 of 2018 (Adfert Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Versus Union of India and others). The Court allowed the present petition in terms of the said judgment. The petitioner was granted permission to file the statutory Form TRAN-I by 31.12.2019. The Court further clarified that if the petitioner faced any hindrance in availing the benefit of the judgment due to the respondents not opening the portal, the petitioner would alternatively be permitted to claim the benefit of unutilized credit in their GST-3B Forms for January 2020, either electronically or manually. No order as to costs was made. The ratio decidendi is that where a specific issue has been decided by the High Court in a previous judgment, subsequent petitions raising the same issue should be decided in terms of the precedent, with appropriate directions for compliance.

Facts

The petitioner, Pooja Metal Processors Pvt. Ltd., is a private limited company registered under the Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017, and was previously registered under the Central Excise Act, 1944, the Finance Act, 1994, and Value Added Tax. The petitioner's grievance is that it was unable to upload the details of its unutilized Input Tax Credit (ITC) from its account books to the electronically generated statutory Form TRAN-I. This form was required under the GST regime to avail the benefit of unutilized ITC accrued under previous taxing statutes. The petitioner argues that this issue has already been decided in its favor by this Court in a previous judgment.

Key Issues

1. Whether the petitioner is entitled to relief on account of its inability to upload unutilized Input Tax Credit details in Form TRAN-I, given that the issue is allegedly covered by a previous judgment of this Court? Petitioner's Contention: The petitioner contends that the issue raised in the present petition is squarely covered by this Court's judgment dated 04.11.2019, passed in CWP 30949 of 2018 titled 'Adfert Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Versus Union of India and others', which was decided in favor of the assessees. Therefore, the petitioner claims it is also entitled to similar relief. Respondents' Contention: The learned counsel for the respondents concedes that the issue raised in the present petition is squarely covered by the aforesaid judgment dated 04.11.2019, passed in Adfert Technologies case. Consequently, they agree that the present petition is liable to be disposed of in terms of that judgment.