Shahnawaz Khan vs. State Of West Bengal And Ors.
Facts
The appellant, Shahnawaz Khan, challenged a summons dated July 17, 2023, issued by a GST authority, which directed his personal appearance on July 10, 2023. The appellant had filed a writ petition challenging this summons. The High Court noted that the date for appearance in the summons had already passed, rendering it infructuous. Furthermore, the writ petition had been dismissed with a liberty granted to the appellant to make an appropriate application for the release of seized materials, which the respondent authorities were directed to consider in accordance with law. The present appeal was filed against the order of dismissal of the writ petition.
Held
The Court held that the appeal was not maintainable and found no grounds to interfere with the impugned order. The primary reason was that the summons dated July 17, 2023, which directed the appellant to appear on July 10, 2023, had become infructuous due to the passage of time. Additionally, the writ petition challenging the summons had already been dismissed by the lower court, with the appellant being granted liberty to make an appropriate application for the release of seized materials. The authorities were directed to consider such an application in accordance with the law. Consequently, the appeal and the connected application were dismissed.
Key Issues
1. Whether the appeal is maintainable given that the impugned summons has become infructuous due to the efflux of time, and the writ petition was dismissed with liberty to the appellant to pursue alternative remedies. The State and the CGST Authority argued that the appeal should be dismissed as the summons, which was the subject of the writ petition, had expired. They also pointed out that the writ petition itself was dismissed, and the appellant was granted liberty to approach the authorities for the release of seized goods. The appellant did not appear before the Court, and therefore, no arguments were recorded on their behalf.
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2024 2 PG/KS Ct. No.1 M.A.T. 1367 of 2023 With I.A. No. CAN 1 of 2023
Shahnawaz Khan Versus State of West Bengal & ors. Mr. T.M. Siddique Mr. T. Chakraborty Mr. S. Sanyal ……..for the State Mr. K.K. Maiti Mr. Tapan Bhanja……for the CGST Authority
None appears for the appellant. We have heard Mr. K.K. Maiti, learned standing counsel for the CGST authority and Mr. T.M. Siddique, learned advocate for the State.
On going through the order impugned in this appeal, we find nothing would survive in this appeal since in the writ petition, the appellant had impugned a summons dated 17th July, 2023 by which the appellant was directed to personally appear on 10th July, 2023. 3. Thus, by efflux of time, the summons, has worked itself out and apart from that, the writ petition has been dismissed giving liberty to the appellant to make appropriate application in accordance with law for release of the seized material and if such application is made, the same was directed to be considered by the respondent authorities in accordance with law.
The judgment continues below.
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