Hotel New Light vs. Deputy Commissioner Of
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Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
ORAL ORDER In this petition, petitioner seeks the following reliefs:- “a. Declare that the amount received as Solatium by the Petitioner under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 is not exigible to tax under the KGST and CGST Act, 2017; b. Set aside the impugned order dated 28.02.2025 bearing No. DCCT (AUDIT)- 5.1/DGSTO.5/GSTADT/ORDER-77/2024-25 issued by the Respondent under Section 73(9), 50 & 122(2) of the KGST/CGST/IGST Act – 2017 read with Rule 142(5) & (6) of the KGST Rules – 2017 for the tax period April 2020 – March 2021 at Annexure-A and all other consequential proceedings by issuing a Writ of Certiorari or any other order in the nature of a Writ of Certiorari. c. Grant any other relief in favour of the petitioner as this Hon’ble Court deems fit, in the interest of justice and equity.”
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned AGA for the respondent and perused the material on record. NC: 2025:KHC:17585
A perusal of the material on record will indicate that pursuant to the lands of the petitioner being acquired by the State / KIADB under the provisions of the KIAD Act, the petitioner received compensation under Section 29(2) of the KIAD Act in terms of Agreements, documents etc., executed between the petitioner and KIADB. Subsequently, the respondent issued the show cause notice dated 18.11.2023 calling upon the petitioner to pay GST on the solatium component in the compensation received by the petitioner, to which petitioner submitted reply through its advocate, which was not accepted by the respondent and subsequently, respondent proceeded to pass the impugned order dated 28.02.2025 under Section 73(9) of CGST/KGST Act, 2017 and aggrieved by the said order, the petitioner is before this Court by way of the present petition.
The issue involved in the present petition as to whether solatium received by the petitioner is exigible / amenable to GST is directly and squarely covered by the order dated 10.09.2024 passed by this Court in the case of ‘Smt. Asha R., Vs. The Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes and Anr’ passed NC: 2025:KHC:17585 in W.P.No.2552/2024 and connected matters, wherein it is held as under:- “11. In the result, I pass the following:- ORDER (i) W.P.No.2552/2024, W.P.No.17524/2024, W.P.No.10838/2024, and W.P.No.5858/2024 are hereby allowed. (ii) It is hereby declared that the compensation paid in favour of the petitioners towards acquisition of their lands by the State/KIADB under the head ‘Solatium’ is not exigible/ amenable to levy of GST under the provisions of CGST/KGST Act, 2017. (iii) The impugned Notices at Annexures-A and A1 both dated 30.10.2023 issued in W.P.No.2552/2024 and all consequential proceedings are hereby quashed. (iv) The impugned Orders at Annexures-A and A1 both dated 20.03.2024 and impugned Notices at Annexures- B and B1 both dated 09.10.2023 issued in W.P.No.17524/2024 and all consequential proceedings are hereby quashed. (v) The impugned Order at Annexure-A dated 30.12.2023 and Notice at Annexure-C dated 26.09.2023 issued in W.P.No.10838/2024 and all consequential proceedings are hereby quashed. (vi) The impugned Order at Annexure-A dated 04.12.2023 and Notice at Annexure-F dated 26.09.2023 NC: 2025:KHC:17585 issued in and all consequential proceedings are hereby quashed. (vii) The impugned Order at Annexure-A dated 20.12.2023 and show cause Notice at Annexure-F dated 26.09.2023 issued in W.P.No.5858/2024 and all consequential proceedings are hereby quashed.”
In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances and the judgment of this Court referred to supra, I am of the view that the present petition deserves to be allowed and impugned adjudication order at Annexure-A dated 28.02.2025 and all consequential proceedings deserve to be quashed.
In the result, I pass the following:- ORDER
(i) Petition is hereby allowed. (ii) The impugned adjudication order at Annexure-A dated 28.02.2025 and all consequential proceedings pursuant thereto are hereby quashed. (S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR) JUDGE SV List No.: 4 Sl No.: 8
Reproduced from the public record of the Karnataka High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.