M/S Amiable Electronics PVT LTD vs. The Nodal Officer

Held

The Court held that the application/representation submitted by the Petitioner before the Nodal Officer had remained unconsidered. Citing its own decision in Writ Petition No.19076/2019, the Court found that the Nodal Officer is obligated to consider applications seeking permission to upload GST TRAN-2 Form, whether electronically or manually. The Court also referred to its detailed discussion on the provisions of the CGST Act and rulings of various High Courts in Writ Petition No.33290/2019 and allied matters concerning the filing/revising of GST TRAN-1 Form. Consequently, the Court directed the Nodal Officer to consider the Petitioner's application/representation and take a decision expeditiously, within a period not exceeding 8 weeks from the date of receipt of a certified copy of the order. The Petitioner was thus enabled to seek the benefit of transitional credit.

Facts

M/s. Amiable Electronics Pvt. Ltd. (Petitioner) sought a direction from the Karnataka High Court to either open the GST Common Portal for submitting Form GST TRAN-2 or to accept the manually filed Form GST TRAN-2 dated 22.10.2019. The Petitioner, a wholesale dealer of electronics, was registered under the Karnataka Value Added Tax Act, 2003, and subsequently under the CGST and KGST Acts from July 1, 2017. The Petitioner electronically filed Form GST TRAN-1 but failed to file Form GST TRAN-2 within the due date due to a bona fide reason: the concerned accountant left the organization. Despite attempts to file it manually and representations to the Nodal Officer, the portal remained inaccessible, and the manual submission was not accepted by the respondent-authorities.

Key Issues

1. Whether the Petitioner is entitled to a direction to open the GST Common Portal for submission of Form GST TRAN-2 or to accept the manually filed Form GST TRAN-2, thereby enabling them to avail transitional credit under Section 140(3) of the CGST Act, 2017, read with Rule 117(4)(b)(iii) of the CGST Rules, 2017 and Section 172 of the CGST Act, 2017? Petitioner's arguments: The Petitioner contended that due to a bona fide reason (accountant's departure), they could not file Form GST TRAN-2 within the prescribed time. They argued that their application/representation to the Nodal Officer remained unconsidered, and the GST Common Portal was not opened for them to file the form. They relied on the principle that the Nodal Officer is obligated to consider such applications, as per this Court's decision in Writ Petition No.19076/2019. They also referred to Section 140 read with Sections 142 and 172 of the CGST Act, Rule 117(1) of the CGST Rules, and a Circular dated 03.04.2018. Revenue's arguments: The judgment does not record any specific arguments made by the respondents.