Wavebit Infratech PVT. LTD., Angul vs. Joint Commnr. Of State Tax, CT And GST, Angul

Held

The Court held that the present writ petition (W.P.(C) No.6651 of 2023) should be disposed of in terms of the common order previously passed by the Court on November 6, 2023, in W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and a batch of other writ petitions. The reasoning for this decision is that the Court found the present case to be similar enough to the batch of petitions decided earlier to warrant the same treatment. The ratio decidendi is that if a writ petition is factually and legally akin to a group of petitions that have already been decided by a common order, the High Court can dispose of the subsequent petition by applying the principles and directions laid down in that common order. No specific operative directions are detailed here, as they are implicitly contained within the common order of November 6, 2023. No issue was expressly left undecided.

Facts

The petitioner, Wavebit Infratech Private Limited, filed a writ petition before the Orissa High Court. The petition was against the Joint Commissioner of State Tax, CT and GST, Angul, and other Opposite Parties. The specific order or action under challenge and the tax period(s) are not detailed in this judgment. The procedural history indicates that this writ petition was disposed of in terms of a common order previously passed by the Court on November 6, 2023, in another case (W.P.(C) No.6684 of 2023 and Batch of Writ Petitions). The amount in dispute is not stated.

Key Issues

The Court had to decide whether to dispose of the present writ petition in terms of the common order passed in a batch of similar writ petitions. The petitioner, represented by Mr. Sabyasachi Panda, Advocate, likely argued that their case was similar to those decided in the common order and therefore, the same relief or disposal mechanism should apply. The Opposite Parties, represented by Mr. Sunil Mishra, Standing Counsel, along with Mr. Diganta Das, Mr. Sheshadeba Das, and Mr. Ananda Das, Additional Standing Counsel for the CT & GST Department, would have been expected to either consent to this disposal or present arguments against it if they believed the present case was distinguishable. The core issue revolved around the applicability of the previous common order to the facts of this specific writ petition.