Indrani Dhar And Anr. vs. State Of West Bengal And Ors.

Held

The Court held that the appellate order dated June 26, 2025, was wholly unreasoned and could not sustain scrutiny under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The appellate authority had failed to apply its mind to the matter, merely confirming the adjudicating authority's order without delving into the facts or grounds of appeal. The Court noted that Section 74(12) of the Act mandates reasons for decisions, and the absence of reasoning renders an order a nullity. The appellate order was found to be a mere reproduction of the adjudicating order's conclusion without any independent analysis. Therefore, the appellate order was set aside. The matter was remanded to the appellate authority for fresh consideration of the appeal in accordance with law, with all points left open for decision.

Facts

The petitioners, Indrani Dhar & Anr., are challenging an order dated June 26, 2025, passed by the appellate authority under Section 107 of the WBGST Act, 2017. This appellate order dismissed their appeal against an adjudication order dated May 22, 2024, passed under Section 74(9) of the same Act. The petitioners contend that the adjudication order imposing tax was wrongly passed against them as they were not suppliers, but agents. They relied on a circular and submitted documents to support this claim. The revenue respondents argued that the documents submitted by the petitioners were never uploaded on the relevant GST portal, although they were noted by the adjudicating authority.

Key Issues

1. Whether the adjudication order under Section 74 of the WBGST Act, 2017, could be passed against the petitioners, who claim they were not suppliers but agents, thereby turning on the interpretation of 'supplier' and the incidence of tax under the Act, and relying on Circular No. 57/31/2018-GST. Contentions: Petitioner/Appellant: Argued that they were merely agents and not suppliers, hence the tax incidence could not be on them, citing Circular No. 57/31/2018-GST. They also submitted documents to buttress this point. Revenue/State Respondents: Contended that while the adjudicating authority noted a letter from the petitioner, the documents mentioned therein were never uploaded on the GST portal. They also argued that the appellate order was passed properly as per the provisions of law.