Merc Infra INDIA Private Limited And Anr. vs. State Of West Bengal And Ors.
Original PDF →Facts
The petitioners, Merc Infra India Private Limited & Anr., initially filed a writ petition challenging an order dated April 12, 2024, passed by the proper officer under Section 73(9) of the WBGST/CGST Act, 2017, concerning the tax period April 2018 to March 2019. This Court, by an order dated September 9, 2024, allowed them to prefer an appeal to the appellate authority under Section 107. The appeal was disposed of by an order dated December 18, 2024. The petitioners then filed the present writ petition on March 1, 2025, challenging this appellate order, citing the non-constitution of the Appellate Tribunal. During the hearing, the petitioners sought to withdraw the writ petition, referencing a Circular dated July 11, 2024, which allows warding off demand payment by making pre-deposit and filing an undertaking to appeal later.
Held
The Court held that the petitioners cannot be permitted to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of this Court to delay the revenue deposit. The reasoning is that the Circular dated July 11, 2024, was already issued when the writ petition was filed, and the petitioners have demonstrably delayed making the payment determined by the authorities. Despite this, as the petitioners sought to withdraw the writ petition, the Court allowed the withdrawal. The operative direction was to dismiss the writ petition as withdrawn, subject to the petitioners paying costs of Rs. 1,00,000/- to the GST authorities. No issues were expressly left undecided.
Key Issues
1. Whether the petitioners can invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of this Court to delay revenue deposit, given that the Circular dated July 11, 2024, was already in effect when the writ petition was filed, and the petitioners have delayed payment. Contentions: Petitioner: Relied on the Circular dated July 11, 2024, issued by the Principal Commissioner GST, which permits delaying demand payment by making the pre-deposit amount required under Section 112(8) and filing an undertaking to appeal once the Appellate Tribunal is constituted. They sought to withdraw the writ petition based on this circular. State: Argued that the petitioners are attempting to use the writ jurisdiction to delay revenue deposit. The judgment does not record any specific arguments from the State beyond this implicit contention.
Sections Cited
Section 73, Section 107, Section 112
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
7 06.08.2025 sb Ct 5
IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CONSTITUTIONAL WRIT JURI ICTION APPELLATE SIDE Merc Infra India Private Limited & Anr. Versus State of West Bengal & Ors.
Ms. Neil Basu
Mr. Sankha Biswas
Mr. Ankan Das
… For the petitioners.
Mr. A. Roy, Ld. GP
Mr. N. Chatterjee
Mr. Tanoy Chakraborty
Mr. Saptak Sanyal
… For the State.
The petitioners had invoked the juri iction of this Court initially by filing a writ petition being WPA 18056 of 2024, challenging the order dated 12th April, 2024 passed by the proper officer under Section 73(9) of the WBGST/CGST Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the “said Act”) in respect of the tax period April, 2018 to March, 2019. 2. By an order dated 9th September, 2024 this Court had permitted the petitioners to prefer an appeal from the aforesaid order before the appellate authority under Section 107 of the said Act. Since, then the petitioners had preferred an appeal and the appeal has been disposed of by the order dated 18th December, 2024. 3. Challenging the said order a writ petition has been filed on 1st March, 2025, inter alia, on the ground that the appellate Tribunal was yet to be constituted. When the matter has come up in the list, the petitioners seek to withdraw the writ petition by citing the Circular issued by the Principal Commissioner GST dated 11th July, 2024 whereby the petitioners can ward off the payment of the demand by making payment of an amount equal to the amount of pre-deposit as required under Section 112(8) of the said Act, and by filing an undertaking that they shall file an appeal as and when the Appellate Tribunal is constituted.
Admittedly, on the date when the writ petition was filed the Circular dated 11th July, 2024 had already been issued. The petitioners have successfully delayed in making payment of the amount which has been determined by the authorities and the writ petition is now being sought to be withdrawn.
Having regard to the aforesaid, I am of the view that the petitioners cannot be permitted to invoke the extra ordinary juri iction of this Court to delay the revenue deposit. However, since the petitioners do not wish to proceed with the writ petition and seek to withdraw the same, let the writ petition be dismissed as withdrawn subject to payment of costs of Rs.1,00,000/- to be paid by the petitioners to the GST authorities.
(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.