N C Print PVT LTD And Anr vs. State Of West Bengal And Ors.
Original PDF →Facts
The petitioners, N C Print Private Limited & Anr., filed a writ petition challenging an order dated 11th April, 2023, passed by the appellate authority under Section 107 of the WBGST/CGST Act, 2017. This order arose from an earlier order dated 8th September, 2022, passed under Section 74 of the said Act for the tax period of January 2018 to February 2018. Initially, the High Court entertained the writ petition due to the unavailability of the appellate tribunal and conditionally restrained coercive steps upon the petitioners depositing 20% of the disputed tax amount. The petitioners complied with this condition, albeit with a slight delay. The interim order was extended periodically. The respondents, the State of West Bengal & Ors., had not yet filed their opposition. The matter came up for extension of the interim order.
Held
The Court held that it would be prudent to permit the petitioners to approach the appellate tribunal. The reasoning was based on the fact that the appellate tribunal under the said Act has now been constituted and is accepting appeals. Furthermore, the Court noted the notification dated September 17, 2025, which extends the time to file an appeal before the appellate tribunal for orders passed before April 1, 2026, until June 30, 2026. The Court directed that if the petitioners file an appeal within the stipulated time under this notification, the appellate authority shall hear and dispose of the appeal on its merits without demanding any further pre-deposit from the petitioners. The petitioners will be entitled to the benefit of the 20% amount already deposited pursuant to the Court's earlier order dated September 20, 2023. The respondents were restrained from taking any coercive action against the petitioners until the expiry of the period mentioned in the notification dated September 17, 2025. The writ petition was disposed of with these observations and directions.
Key Issues
1. Whether the petitioners should be permitted to approach the appellate tribunal given the constitution of the tribunal and the extended time for filing appeals? The petitioners contended that they had complied with the conditional order of this Court by depositing 20% of the disputed tax amount. They sought permission to approach the appellate tribunal, especially since the tribunal is now constituted and the time to file appeals for orders passed before April 1, 2026, has been extended until June 30, 2026, by a notification dated September 17, 2025. They argued that this would be a prudent course of action. The respondents (State of West Bengal & Ors.) did not file any opposition, and therefore, no specific arguments were recorded on their behalf regarding this issue.
Sections Cited
Section 107, Section 74
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
01 28.04.2026 sayandeep Ct 5
IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CONSTITUTIONAL WRIT JURI ICTION APPELLATE SIDE N C Print Private Limited & Anr. Versus The State of West Bengal & Ors.
Mr. Avra Mazumder
Ms. Alisha Das
Mr. Suman Bhowmik
Ms. Elina Dey
… For the petitioners.
Mr. Tanoy Chakraborty
Mr. Saptak Sanyal
… For the State.
Challenging an order passed by the appellate authority under Section 107 of the WBGST/CGST Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the said Act) dated 11th April, 2023 arising out of an order dated 8th September, 2022 passed under Section 74 of the said Act for the tax period of January, 2018 to February, 2018, the instant writ petition was filed.
This Court by an order dated 20th September, 2023 noting unavailability of the appellate tribunal had entertained the writ petition and had conditionally restrained the respondents from taking any coercive steps provided the petitioners deposit 20% of the amount of tax in dispute within the stipulated period indicated therein. The learned advocate for the petitioners would submit by placing before this Court the receipt in form GST DRC 03 that the conditions stipulated in the order dated 20th September, 2023 though marginally delayed has been complied with. Since then, the order has been extended from time to time and the matter is pending adjudication before this Court. Despite directions for filing affidavit-in- opposition, the respondents are yet to file opposition. Today the matter has come up under the heading “Extension of Interim order”. This Court, however, takes judicial note of the submissions made by the parties that the appellate tribunal under the said Act has since been constituted and the tribunal is accepting filing of appeals.
Having regard thereto and noting that the time to file an appeal before the appellate tribunal for orders passed before 1st April, 2026 stands extended till 30th June, 2026 by virtue of the notification dated 17th September, 2025, in my view, it shall be prudent, at this stage, to permit the petitioner to approach the tribunal, noting that the petitioners have already deposited 20% of the tax in dispute and if such appeal is filed within the time stipulated under the notification dated 17th September, 2025, the appellate authority shall hear out and dispose of the appeal on merits without insisting for any further pre-deposit from the petitioners. The petitioners shall be entitled to the benefit of the amount so deposited in furtherance to the order passed by this Court on 20th September, 2023. 4. Needless to note that the respondents shall not take any coercive action against the petitioners until expiry of the period mentioned in the notification dated 17th September, 2025 and in the event, the above appeal is filed, all legal consequences shall follow.
With the above observations and directions, the writ petition is disposed of.
(Raja Basu Chowdhury, J.)
Reproduced from the public record of the Calcutta High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.