Chandradeo Prasad Mehta vs. The Union Of INDIA

Held

The Court held that the constitutional validity of Section 16(4) of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, has already been decided by a co-ordinate bench of this Court in a judgment dated 08.09.2023, passed in CWJC No.9108 of 2021 and other analogous cases. Respectfully following that prior judgment, the present writ petition was dismissed. The reasoning for the dismissal is based on precedent set by the co-ordinate bench, which found the provision to be constitutionally valid. The ratio decidendi is that a High Court is bound by the decisions of its co-ordinate benches on identical legal issues. No specific operative directions were issued beyond the dismissal of the petition.

Facts

The petitioner, Chandradeo Prasad Mehta, challenged the constitutional validity of Section 16(4) of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The respondents are the Union of India and the State of Bihar, represented by various tax authorities. The specific tax period and the amount in dispute are not recorded in the judgment. The procedural history indicates that this matter was brought before the High Court as a Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case. A co-ordinate bench of the High Court had previously dealt with a similar issue.

Key Issues

1. Whether Section 16(4) of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, is constitutionally valid? The petitioner's contention is that this provision is unconstitutional. The revenue's argument, as implied by the court's decision, is that the provision is constitutionally valid. The court is required to decide the constitutional validity of the said section. The judgment does not explicitly detail the arguments presented by each side beyond the core issue of constitutional validity. It is noted that a co-ordinate bench had previously addressed this question.