M/S.Srk Enterprise vs. State Of Odisha
Held
The Court did not decide on the merits of the tax rate dispute. Instead, it allowed the petitioner's request to withdraw the writ petition. The Court granted the petitioner liberty to approach the State Government to represent their grievances regarding the tax rate and contract termination. Therefore, no finding was made on the legality of the 18% GST levy or its applicability to the petitioner's transaction. The operative direction was to permit the withdrawal of the petition with liberty to pursue the matter with the State Government.
Facts
The petitioner filed a writ petition challenging the imposition of Goods and Services Tax (GST) at an 18% rate, arguing that the Central Sales Tax (CST) was previously only 2% at the time of auction. The petitioner contended that they should not be subjected to a higher tax rate. During the pendency of the writ petition, the petitioner's contract was terminated. The petitioner's counsel then sought permission to withdraw the writ petition to approach the State Government with their grievances.
Key Issues
1. Whether the petitioner is entitled to be taxed at the lower rate of 2% (CST) instead of the higher rate of 18% (GST) on the basis of the rate prevalent at the time of auction. Petitioner's Contention: The petitioner argued that the increase in tax rate from 2% CST to 18% GST is unfair and should not be applied to their transaction, which was initiated under the previous tax regime. The petitioner relied on the principle that rates existing at the time of contract formation should ideally be maintained. Revenue/State's Contention: The judgment does not record any specific arguments from the State or revenue authorities regarding the tax rate dispute. However, the State was represented by learned Additional Government Advocate.
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
W.P.(C) No. 11603 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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