Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. LTD.Through Its Branch Commercial Manager vs. Union Of INDIA & Ors.

Held

The Court held that since there was no dispute on the facts and it was admitted that a typographical/clerical error occurred on the petitioner's part while filling the TRAN-I Form, the petitioner was entitled to correct it. The Court disposed of the writ petition by directing the respondents to either open the online portal to enable the petitioner to file the rectified TRAN-I Form electronically or accept the manually filed TRAN-I Form with the correction by October 25, 2019. The petitioner would then be permitted to file the return in TRAN-2. The Court also directed that penalty and interest for the late filing of GSTR-3B would be waived off, subject to the petitioner filing the rectified TRAN-I Form as directed. The Court noted that the rectified TRAN-I Form would be subject to verification of the ITC. The Court relied on its previous decision in M/s Blue Bird Pure Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Union of India and Ors.

Facts

The petitioner, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., filed a writ petition seeking directions to open the GST portal or accept manual filing for rectification of its TRAN-I Form. The petitioner claimed a clerical error led to it leaving out CENVAT credit of Rs. 1,25,34,406/- under column 7A of the TRAN-I Form. It stated that it could not rectify this due to the absence of an amendment provision on the portal and system glitches. The respondent, Union of India & Ors., through the Goods and Services Tax Counsel, acknowledged a clerical error on the petitioner's part in filling the online TRAN-I Form.

Key Issues

1. Whether the Petitioner is entitled to a direction to open the GST portal or accept manual filing for rectification of the TRAN-I Form due to a clerical error, to carry forward left-out CENVAT credit under Section 140 of the CGST Act, 2017? Petitioner's Argument: The petitioner argued that it made a clerical mistake in filling the TRAN-I Form, resulting in the omission of CENVAT credit. It contended that due to the lack of an amendment facility on the portal and system glitches, it was unable to rectify the error. Therefore, it sought a direction for the respondents to allow rectification, either electronically or manually, to claim the due credit of excise duty paid on stock held on June 30, 2017, as per Section 140 of the CGST Act. Revenue's Argument: The respondent acknowledged that there was a clerical error on the part of the petitioner in filling up the online TRAN-I Form.