M/S.Karim Khan vs. State Of Orissa
Held
The Court did not decide on the merits of the petitioner's grievance regarding the GST rate. Instead, the Court granted the petitioner's request to withdraw the writ petition. The petitioner was permitted to approach the State Government with their grievances. The Court's decision was based on the petitioner's prayer to withdraw the petition and pursue the matter with the State Government. No specific findings were made on the legality of the GST rate or the impact of the contract termination. The operative direction was to allow the withdrawal of the petition with liberty to approach the State Government.
Facts
The petitioner filed a writ petition challenging the imposition of GST at an 18% rate, arguing that the Central Sales Tax (CST) was only 2% at the time of auction. The petitioner contended that they should not be levied a higher rate of tax. During the pendency of the writ petition, the petitioner's contract was terminated. The petitioner's counsel then requested permission to withdraw the writ petition to approach the State Government with their grievances.
Key Issues
1. Whether the petitioner is liable to be levied GST at 18% when the Central Sales Tax was 2% at the time of auction, and if so, on what legal basis? 2. Whether the termination of the petitioner's contract during the pendency of the writ petition impacts the relief sought? Petitioner's arguments: The petitioner argued that the increased tax rate from 2% CST to 18% GST is unfair and should not be applied to their situation. They sought relief from this higher tax burden. The petitioner also indicated a desire to approach the State Government to resolve their grievances. Revenue/State's arguments: The judgment does not record any specific arguments made by the State-opposite party or opposite party no. 2 regarding the tax rate or the petitioner's grievances. The State-opposite party was represented by learned Additional Government Advocate, and opposite party no. 2 was represented by learned Senior Counsel, but their contentions are not detailed in the judgment.
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
W.P.(C) No. 11499 of 2017 04.09.2017 Heard Sri S.K. Dalai, learned counsel for the petitioner as well as Sri P.K. Muduli, lea rned Additional Government Advocate for the State-opposite party and Sri S.K. Pattnaik, learne d Senior Counsel appearing along with Sri P.K. Patnaik, learned counsel for opposite party no.
The grievance of the petitioner is that at the time of auction, the Central Sales Tax (C ST) was only 2% whereas after coming into force the GST, the Tax would now be 18%. He is thus stated that the petitioner should not be levied higher rate of tax. It is also contended that during pendency of the writ petition, the contract of the petitioner has been terminated. At t his stage, learned counsel for the petitioner states that the petitioner may be permitted to a pproach the State Government with regard to his grievances made in this writ petition. Prayer is allowed. The petitioner is permitted to withdraw this writ petition with liberty to approach the State Government with regard to his grievances made in this writ petition. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of as withdrawn.
The judgment continues below.
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Reproduced from the public record of the Orissa High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.