Nodal Officer, Jt Comm.,It Griev. vs. M/S. Das Auto Centre

Held

The Court, while acknowledging the difficulties faced by the assesses and the principle of substantial compliance, found that directing the GST portal to be opened might be unworkable for assessing officers. Instead, the Court modified the Single Judge's directions, drawing inspiration from the Punjab and Haryana High Court's decision in Hans Raj Sons. The Court held that the writ petitioners/assessees would be entitled to file their unutilized input tax credit in their GSTR-3B forms for January 2022, to be filed in February 2022. The concerned assessing officer would have the liberty to verify the genuineness of these claims. The Court affirmed the reasoning of the learned Single Judge regarding the merits of the case but modified the operative directions to provide a more workable solution. The appeals were dismissed with this modification.

Facts

These appeals by the Central Government challenge a common order by a learned Single Judge in a batch of writ petitions. The respondents (writ petitioners) sought permission to file or revise their GST TRAN-1 forms. The Single Judge directed the GSTN Authorities to open the portal until March 31, 2020, to allow petitioners to comply with their return obligations. The common issue across petitions was the inability to upload TRAN-1 forms on time due to technical glitches, connectivity issues, or lack of system familiarity, despite the petitioners having a crystallized right to input tax credit. The appeals question the appropriateness of the Single Judge's directions.

Key Issues

1. Whether the learned Single Judge's direction to open the GST portal for filing/revising TRAN-1 forms was appropriate, considering the technical difficulties faced by the petitioners in uploading these forms and their crystallized right to input tax credit. Petitioner's arguments (implied, as they sought relief): The petitioners argued that procedural technicalities should not deny them their vested right to input tax credit, which arose from difficulties in complying with the GST system's initial rollout. They relied on various High Court decisions that granted similar relief. Revenue's arguments (implied, as they filed appeals): The Revenue challenged the Single Judge's order, likely arguing that the statutory timelines for filing TRAN-1 were mandatory and that the court should not direct the opening of the portal, potentially impacting the revenue's ability to verify claims. They would have likely argued against extending statutory deadlines.