The Holy Decorators vs. The Assistant Commissioner Of State Tax And Ors.

Facts

The petitioner, The Holy Decorators, filed a writ petition before the High Court. The petitioner's grievance pertains to an order or action passed by the Assistant Commissioner of State Tax, Bureau of Investigation, (South Bench), Head Quarters and Ors. The specific tax period and the amount in dispute are not recorded in the judgment. The procedural history indicates that the petitioner approached the High Court via a writ petition. Subsequently, upon the constitution and functioning of the Appellate Tribunal, the petitioner sought to transfer the writ petition to the Tribunal to prefer an appeal under Section 112 of the CGST Act, 2017/WBGST Act, 2017.

Held

The Court held that the writ petition should be disposed of with the observation that the petitioner seeks to transfer the matter to the Appellate Tribunal. The Court granted the petitioner's request to prefer an appeal before the GSTAT Kolkata under Section 112 of the CGST Act, 2017/WBGST Act, 2017, and allowed four weeks' time for this purpose. Crucially, the Court also directed that the period during which the writ petition was pending before the High Court should be excluded for the purpose of computing the limitation period for filing the appeal before the GSTAT. The reasoning appears to be based on facilitating the petitioner's statutory remedy before the appropriate forum, especially when the Tribunal is now operational. The operative direction is to dispose of the writ petition with these observations and permissions.

Key Issues

1. Whether the writ petition should be transferred to the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) for filing an appeal under Section 112 of the CGST Act, 2017/WBGST Act, 2017, given that the Tribunal is now functional? Petitioner's argument: The petitioner contended that since the Appellate Tribunal has been constituted and is functional, the instant writ petition should be transferred to the Appellate Tribunal. They sought four weeks' time to prefer an appeal before the GSTAT Kolkata under Section 112 of the CGST Act, 2017/WBGST Act, 2017. Furthermore, they requested that the period during which the writ petition has been pending before the High Court be excluded for the computation of the limitation period for filing the appeal. Revenue/State's argument: The judgment records no specific argument from the revenue or the State regarding the transfer or the limitation period.