Nico Tiles vs. The State Tax Officer
Held
The Court held that once a statutory appeal under Section 107 is invoked, the mandatory pre-deposit cannot be avoided based on subsequent events like registration cancellation. Such events can be argued on merits during the appeal but do not negate the pre-deposit requirement. The Court declined to exercise its extraordinary writ jurisdiction under Article 226.
Facts
The petitioner challenged monthly assessment orders issued under Section 62 of the CGST Act for non-filing of returns, arguing they were illegal as their GST registration was later cancelled retrospectively. The petitioner had already filed statutory appeals under Section 107 of the SGST Act but failed to make the mandatory pre-deposit, citing the subsequent registration cancellation.
Key Issues
Can a taxpayer avoid the mandatory pre-deposit for a statutory appeal under Section 107 by relying on a subsequent cancellation of GST registration? Can a writ petition be entertained when a statutory appellate remedy has already been invoked without fulfilling its conditions?
Sections Cited
Section 62, Section 46, Section 107, Article 226
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BECHU KURIAN THOMAS TUESDAY, THE 15TH DAY OF FEBRUARY 2022 / 26TH MAGHA, 1943 WP(C) NO. 26301 OF 2021 PETITIONER: NICO TILES MADHAVAM, PANNOLY PARAMBA, KOZHIKODE, KOTTOOLI, KOZHIKODE 673 016 REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGING PARTNER, SRI. MADHU MENON. BY ADVS. M.K.HAJARA C.RAMACHANDRAN RESPONDENTS: 1 THE STATE TAX OFFICER, STATE GOODS AND SERVICE TAX DEPARTMENT, MINI CIVIL STATION, MANJERI-676 121. 2 THE JOINT COMMISSIONER (APPEALS) STATE GOODS & SERVICES TAX DEPARTMENT, PALAKKAD-678 014. 3 THE COMMISSIONER OF STATE TAXES TAX TOWER, KILLIPPALAM, KARAMANA P.O., THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695 002. ADV. DR.THUSHARA JAMES, SR.GOVT. PLEADER THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 24.01.2022, THE COURT ON 15.02.2022 DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
W.P.(C) No.26301/21 BECHU KURIAN THOMAS, J. ----------------------------------------- W.P.(C) No.26301 of 2021 ---------------------------------------- Dated this the 15th day of Febru
The judgment continues below.
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