Sunil Jain vs. Directorate General Of GST Intelligence & Anr.

Facts

The petitioner, Sunil Jain, filed a writ petition before the Delhi High Court challenging an order dated January 9, 2023, passed by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) under Section 83(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act). This order provisionally attached the petitioner's bank account with respondent no. 2 (a bank) to the extent of ₹3,99,42,117/-. The DGGI directed that the bank account could only be operated for debits exceeding this specified amount. The petition was filed in 2024, seeking relief against this attachment order.

Held

The Court held that the impugned order of provisional attachment dated January 9, 2023, passed by respondent no. 1 under Section 83(1) of the CGST Act, 2017, is no longer operative. This is because, in terms of Section 83(2) of the CGST Act, 2017, an order of provisional attachment is operative only for a period of one year from its date of issuance. As the order was passed on January 9, 2023, it expired on January 8, 2024. Consequently, the Court directed respondent no. 2 bank not to interdict the petitioner from operating its bank account pursuant to the impugned order. The Court clarified that these directions were confined to the specific order under challenge and would not affect any other subsisting orders.

Key Issues

1. Whether the impugned order of provisional attachment of the petitioner's bank account, issued under Section 83(1) of the CGST Act, 2017, is still operative. The petitioner contended that the order, issued on January 9, 2023, has lapsed as per Section 83(2) of the CGST Act, 2017, which limits the period of such attachment to one year from the date of issuance. The respondents accepted notice and did not present any counter-argument on this point.