Swathi Engineering Constructions vs. The Assistant Commissioner (St)

Held

The Court directed the Commercial Tax Department and the Panchayat Raj and Roads & Buildings Departments to resolve their inter se disputes regarding the applicability of a tax rate amendment. Any ascertained amounts due would be paid by the government departments to the petitioner for onward remittance to the GST authorities. The attachment of the petitioner's bank account was set aside.

Facts

The petitioner, a construction company, was assessed for GST at 18% for certain tax periods, despite having already remitted 12%. The petitioner had previously approached the High Court, which directed government authorities to pay the differential tax. However, the petitioner contended that these authorities had not paid the differential amount, leading to the GST department attaching the petitioner's bank account.

Key Issues

Whether the GST department can initiate recovery proceedings against the petitioner when there is an ongoing dispute between government departments regarding the payment of differential tax, and if the tax rate amendment is applicable to the petitioner's contracts.