Novous Interiors Private Limited vs. Union Of INDIA And Ors.
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The petitioner, Novous Interiors Private Limited, sought modification of a previous High Court order dated April 10, 2025. The original order had set aside the cancellation of the petitioner's GST registration and directed the jurisdictional officer to activate the portal within seven working days for compliance. The petitioner applied for waiver of interest, penalty, and late fees incurred between April 10, 2025, and September 22, 2025. The CGST authorities confirmed, via a communication dated December 8, 2025, that the portal was only reactivated on September 19, 2025. This delay prevented the petitioner from complying with the April 10, 2025 order.
Held
The Court held that the petitioner should not be saddled with additional penalty and interest for the period between April 10, 2025, and September 19, 2025, and from October 24, 2025, until the time provided for compliance under the current order. This decision was based on the finding that the respondents (CGST authorities) failed to adhere to the court's previous direction dated April 10, 2025, by belatedly activating the petitioner's portal. This failure directly prevented the petitioner from complying with the directives regarding payment of late fees, tax, penalty, and interest. The Court modified the order dated April 10, 2025, to this extent. The petitioner was granted two weeks from the receipt of the server copy of the order to comply with the original directions. The Court also clarified that if any additional amount is charged beyond the terms of this order due to the portal's setup, the petitioner should pay it without prejudice and seek a refund as per law. The contempt application was disposed of as the original order was substantially complied with, albeit belatedly.
Key Issues
1. Whether the petitioner should be burdened with additional interest and penalty for the period from April 10, 2025, to September 19, 2025, and from October 24, 2025, to the date of compliance, given the delay in portal reactivation by the CGST authorities. Petitioner's Contention: The petitioner argued that the delay in reactivating their GST portal by the CGST authorities, which occurred on September 19, 2025, instead of within the seven working days stipulated in the April 10, 2025 order, prevented them from complying with the original directions. Consequently, they should not be saddled with additional interest and penalty for this period. Revenue's Contention: The CGST authorities, represented by Mr. Shiv Shankar Banerjee, confirmed the delay in portal reactivation. No specific argument was recorded against the petitioner's plea for waiver of interest and penalty.
Sections Cited
None explicitly mentioned in the provided text.
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
1 09.12.2025 sb
Ct.
IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CONSTITUTIONAL WRIT JURI ICTION APPELLATE SIDE With In Novous Interiors Private Limited Versus Union of India & Ors.
Mr. Promit Majumdar
… For the applicant/petitioner.
Mr. Shiv Shankar Banerjee
Mr. Tapan Bhanja
… For the CGST authorities.
In re: CAN 1 of 2025
This is an application seeking modification of the order dated 10th April, 2025, passed in WPA 3783 of 2025 to the extent the levy of interest, penalty and late fee may be waived off for the period from 10th April, 2025 to 22nd September, 2025. 2. Under the circumstances morefully detailed in the order dated 10th April, 2025, this Court had directed the juri ictional officer to activate the portal of the petitioner within seven working days for the petitioner to comply with the other directions contained in the above order, since by such order the cancellation of registration of the petitioner had been set aside.
Mr. Banerjee, learned advocate representing the CGST authorities, on instruction, by placing before this Court the communication dated 8th December, 2025, has With In confirmed the fact that the portal in respect of the petitioner has been reactivated only on 19th September, 2025. Let the same be taken on record.
Having heard the learned advocates appearing for the respective parties, I find that since the portal was reactivated belatedly, the petitioner could not take steps to comply with the direction dated 10th April, 2025 and in the process as aforesaid became saddled with additional interest and penalty. In the facts noted above, I am of the view, since the respondents themselves had failed to adhere to the direction passed by this Court dated 10th April, 2025 in activating the petitioner’s portal thereby, preventing the petitioner from complying with the directives issued in the order dated 10th April, 2025 insofar as payment of late fine, tax, penalty and interest are concerned, the additional penalty and interest between 10th April, 2025 to 19th September, 2025 and from 24th October, 2025 when the application was filed till the time provided for compliance under this order, should not be saddled on the petitioner provided the petitioner complies with the original direction dated 10th April, 2025 within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt of the server copy of this order from the website.
The order dated 10th April, 2025 accordingly stands modified to the aforesaid extent. The Connected application, being CAN 1 of 2025 stands disposed of.
Since the order dated 10th April, 2025 has been substantially complied with, though belatedly, the With In contempt application, being CPAN 1501 of 2025 also stands disposed of.
It is, however, made clear that considering the peculiar setup of the online portal in the event an additional amount is charged from the petitioner beyond the terms of this order, the petitioner shall pay the same without prejudice and shall be entitled to seek refund thereof, in accordance with law.
(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.