Niranjan Mohapatra vs. State Of Odisha
Held
The Court, considering the limited nature of the prayer, disposed of the writ petition. It directed the Executive Engineer, Minor Irrigation Division, Nabarangapur, to consider the petitioner's representation dated March 16, 2020. This consideration was to be done in light of the Court's order dated February 3, 2020, passed in W.P.(C) No. 2819 of 2020. The Executive Engineer was instructed to pass an appropriate order in accordance with the law and to inform the petitioner of the decision within six weeks from the date of production of a copy of this order, provided the representation was still pending. The Court did not make any specific findings on the merits of the GST reimbursement claim itself, focusing solely on the procedural aspect of deciding the representation.
Facts
The petitioner, Niranjan Mohapatra, filed a writ petition seeking a direction to the Executive Engineer, Minor Irrigation Division, Nabarangapur, to dispose of his representation dated March 16, 2020. This representation concerned the reimbursement of GST amounts as per revised guidelines for works contracts issued by the Government of Odisha, Finance Department on December 10, 2018. The petitioner also sought a direction to the Commissioner of Commercial Tax, Odisha, to refrain from taking coercive action against him until his representation was decided. The petitioner contended that his case was similar to a previously decided case, W.P.(C) No. 2819 of 2020, and that despite submitting his representation, no decision had been taken.
Key Issues
1. Whether the Executive Engineer, Minor Irrigation Division, Nabarangapur, should be directed to consider and dispose of the petitioner's representation dated March 16, 2020, concerning GST reimbursement under revised guidelines for works contracts. Petitioner's arguments: The petitioner argued that his representation, which sought reimbursement of GST amounts as per the Government of Odisha's Office Memorandum dated December 10, 2018, had not been decided. He further contended that the issue was covered by a previous order of the Court in W.P.(C) No. 2819 of 2020, decided on February 3, 2020, and that no coercive action should be taken against him until his representation was considered. Revenue/State's arguments: The judgment does not record any specific arguments made by the revenue or state authorities.
Sections Cited
None explicitly mentioned in the provided text, beyond the reference to the Government of Odisha, Finance Department's Office Memorandum dated 10.12.2018 and the previous court case W.P.(C) No. 2819 of 2020.
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Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
Heard learned counsel appearing for the petitioner by Video Conferencing mode.
This writ petition has been filed by the petitioner- Niranjan Mohapatra with a prayer to direct opposite party no.3-Executive Engineer, Minor Irrigation Division, Nabarangapur to dispose of representation dated 16.03.2020 (Annexure-1) made by him and reimburse the GST amount as per the revised guidelines relating to works contract under GST issued by the Government of Odisha, Finance Department vide Office Memorandum dated 10.12.2018 (Annexure-8) within a stipulated time and till then opposite party no.4-Commissioner of Commercial Tax, Odisha may be directed not to take any coercive action against the petitioner.
Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that the issue involved in the present writ petition is squarely covered to W.P.(C) No.2819 of 2020 (Mr. Bijan Kumar Parida vs. State of Odisha & Ors.) which has already been decided by this Cour
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