Rishabh vs. Adg, Dggi & Anr.

Facts

The petitioner, Rishabh, filed a writ petition before the Delhi High Court challenging an order dated July 20, 2023, passed by the Additional Director General, Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI), the first respondent. This order, issued under Section 83 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act), provisionally attached the petitioner's bank account and locker maintained with the second respondent. The petitioner argued that the impugned order was no longer operative. The revenue, represented by the DGGI, contested this.

Held

The Court held that the impugned order dated July 20, 2023, passed by the respondent no.1 under Section 83 of the CGST Act, was no longer operative. This finding was based on the concession that Section 83(2) of the CGST Act confines the operation of any order passed under Section 83(1) for a period of one year. Consequently, the Court directed the second respondent not to interdict the operation of the petitioner's bank account and locker on the basis of the expired order dated July 20, 2023. The Court clarified that this order was confined solely to the impugned order and would not affect the import of any other subsisting orders. The petition was disposed of in these terms.

Key Issues

1. Whether the provisional attachment order dated July 20, 2023, issued under Section 83 of the CGST Act, remains operative given the statutory period of one year stipulated in Section 83(2) of the CGST Act. Petitioner's Contention: The petitioner argued that the impugned order dated July 20, 2023, was no longer operative by virtue of Section 83(2) of the CGST Act, which limits the duration of such attachments to one year. Revenue's Contention: The revenue, through its counsel, accepted notice and did not appear to have raised any specific arguments against the petitioner's contention regarding the expiry of the attachment order.