Syed Basid Hussain vs. The Union Of INDIA

Facts

The petitioner, Syed Basid Hussain, filed a writ petition before the Gauhati High Court. The petition challenged an order passed by the Commissioner Appeals dated 21.01.2021. The respondents included the Union of India, the Commissioner Appeals (CGST, Central Excise and Custom), the Deputy Director (Administration) of NEIGRIHMS, and the Assistant Director of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). The petitioner's counsel, upon realizing the writ petition was not maintainable due to the failure to directly challenge the Commissioner Appeals' order, sought to withdraw the petition with liberty to file afresh. The DRI's standing counsel was present.

Held

The Court accepted the petitioner's prayer to withdraw the writ petition. The reasoning was based on the petitioner's counsel's realization that the writ petition was not maintainable because the order passed by the Commissioner Appeals dated 21.01.2021 had not been directly challenged. The Court held that the writ petition was dismissed on withdrawal. The petitioner was granted liberty to file a fresh petition as may be permissible under the law. No specific findings were made on the merits of the underlying GST dispute or the order of the Commissioner Appeals.

Key Issues

1. Whether the writ petition is maintainable in its current form, given that the petitioner failed to directly challenge the order passed by the Commissioner Appeals dated 21.01.2021. The petitioner's counsel argued that the writ petition was not maintainable. The revenue's counsel, represented by the standing counsel for DRI, was present but no specific arguments were recorded on the maintainability of the writ petition itself, other than the petitioner's counsel's concession.