Puspa Furniture Private Limited And Anr. vs. The Union Of INDIA And Ors.
Original PDF →Facts
The appellants, Puspa Furniture Private Limited & Anr., are aggrieved by an order dated December 10, 2025, passed by the Hon'ble Justice Om Narayan Rai in WPA 19155 of 2025. The earlier order permitted the GST authorities to proceed with the investigation, issue show-cause notices, and conclude proceedings, but restrained them from communicating or uploading the final order without court leave. The appellants sought a stay of the investigation by the CGST department. This appeal was filed against the aforementioned order. The respondents are the Union of India and other CGST and State GST authorities.
Held
The Court found no merit in the appeal. The appellants were aggrieved by an interim order that allowed the GST authorities to proceed with the investigation and adjudication but prohibited the communication or uploading of the final order without court leave. The appellants sought a stay of the investigation. The Court, after hearing both sides, dismissed the appeal, implicitly upholding the interim order. The reasoning appears to be that the interim order itself balanced the need for investigation with the protection of the appellants' rights by requiring due process and restricting the final communication of orders. The Court did not elaborate on the specific legal provisions or precedents that led to this dismissal, nor did it address the underlying challenge to the search and seizure proceedings in detail, as the appeal was against the interim order. The operative direction was the dismissal of the appeal.
Key Issues
1. Whether the interim order dated December 10, 2025, passed by the learned Single Judge, which allowed the GST authorities to proceed with the investigation and adjudication but restricted communication of the final order, is sustainable in law, particularly in light of the appellants' challenge to the validity of search and seizure proceedings due to alleged lack of 'reason to believe'. Arguments for the Appellants: The appellants are aggrieved by the interim order and are seeking a stay on the investigation. They contend that the search and seizure proceedings were initiated without a valid 'reason to believe', thus questioning the legality of the entire investigation process. They are seeking to halt the proceedings pending a final determination of this issue. Arguments for the Respondents: The respondents, including the CGST and State GST authorities and the Union of India, are defending the interim order. They argue that the GST authorities are entitled to proceed with the investigation and adjudication as per law, provided they follow due process and grant opportunities for hearing and representation. They likely contend that the investigation itself should not be stayed, especially since the earlier order allowed for it.
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
1 ss 02.02.2026 MAT 13 of 2026 With CAN 1 of 2026 Puspa Furniture Private Limited & Anr. Vs. The Union of India & Ors. Mr. Himangshu Kumar Ray Mr. Subhasis Podder Mr. S. Bagaria Ms. S. Shaw Mr. G. Chakraborty Mr. A. Roy Mr. A. Saha … … for the appellants Mr. Bhaskar Prasad Banerjee Mr. Abhradish Maity … … for the CGST & CX Mr. Tanoy Chakraborty Ms. Saptak Sanyal … … for the State Ms. Hasi Saha … … for the Union of India Mr. Prithu Dudharia … … respondent No.9 Affidavit of service filed in Court be kept with the record. Learned counsel appearing for the appellants submits that His Lordship the Hon’ble Justice Om Narayan Rai on 10th December, 2025 in WPA 19155 of 2025 being Puspa Furniture Private Limited & Anr. Vs. Union of India & Ors. has passed an order stating that “Since this Court has entertained the writ petition in view of the fact that a question as regards the validity of the search and seizure proceeding has been raised by the petitioners by asserting that no reason to believe exists,
therefore while the respondent GST authorities shall be free to proceed with the investigation and issue show- cause notices and shall also be entitled to conclude the said proceedings by passing a final order in accordance with law upon giving an opportunity of hearing and of making representation against the show-cause notices to the petitioners in accordance with law, yet the respondents shall not communicate such order to the petitioners or upload the same on the GST portal without the leave of the Court. The petitioners shall cooperate in the investigation and the adjudicating proceeding. Needless to mention that the proceeding shall be conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes. List this matter for hearing immediately after expiry of the time fixed for exchange of affidavits.” Being aggrieved with such order, appellants have preferred this appeal praying for stay of the investigation by the CGST department. Heard learned counsel for the appellants as well as for the respondents. We do not find any merits in the case and as such the appeal is dismissed. However, there shall be no order as to costs. CAN 1 of 2026 is also dismissed. Urgent certified copy of this order, if applied for, be given to the parties upon compliance of all formalities. 2
(Uday Kumar, J.) (Rajarshi Bharadwaj, J.) 3
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.