Shankar Metal Products vs. State Of West Bengal And Ors.

Held

The Court acknowledged the petitioner's submission that the Appellate Tribunal has been constituted and is functional. Based on this, the Court agreed with the petitioner's request to transfer the matter to the Appellate Tribunal. The Court granted the petitioner four weeks' time to prefer an appeal before the GSTAT Kolkata under Section 112 of the CGST Act, 2017/WBGST Act, 2017. The Court also directed that the period during which the writ petition was pending before the High Court should be excluded for computing the limitation period for filing the appeal. The Court did not explicitly decide on the merits of the underlying GST dispute, as the primary focus was on the procedural transfer of the case to the appropriate appellate forum.

Facts

The petitioner, Shankar Metal Products, filed a writ petition before the High Court. The petitioner's primary submission was that the Appellate Tribunal has been constituted and is functional. Consequently, the petitioner requested the transfer of the writ petition to the Appellate Tribunal. The petitioner sought four weeks' time to prefer an appeal before the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) Kolkata under Section 112 of the CGST Act, 2017/WBGST Act, 2017. Additionally, the petitioner requested that the period during which the writ petition was pending before the High Court be excluded for the purpose of computing the limitation period for filing the appeal.

Key Issues

1. Whether the writ petition should be transferred to the Appellate Tribunal, given its functional status, for adjudication of the dispute under Section 112 of the CGST Act, 2017/WBGST Act, 2017. 2. Whether the period during which the writ petition was pending before the High Court should be excluded for computing the limitation period for filing an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal. Petitioner's Contentions: The petitioner argued that since the Appellate Tribunal is now functional, the matter should be heard by the Tribunal. They sought time to file an appeal before the GSTAT Kolkata and requested exclusion of the pendency period of the writ petition for limitation purposes. The petitioner relied on the principle that a litigant should not suffer due to the delay in the judicial process, especially when a specialized appellate forum is available. Revenue's Contentions: The judgment records no specific arguments from the respondents (The State of West Bengal and others).