Kaushlendra Kumar vs. Union Of INDIA

Held

The Court held that Section 16(4) of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, is constitutionally valid. This decision was based on a prior judgment of a co-ordinate bench of the same High Court, dated 08.09.2023, which had addressed the same issue in CWJC No.9108 of 2021 and analogous cases. The reasoning for this holding is that the co-ordinate bench's judgment, which was respectfully followed, had already answered the question of constitutional validity in favour of the revenue and against the assessee. Therefore, the present writ petition, which raised the identical question, was dismissed.

Facts

The petitioner, Kaushlendra Kumar, a proprietary concern, 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 various authorities of the State of Bihar, including the Commissioner of State Tax and the Assistant Commissioner of State Tax. The specific tax period and the amount in dispute are not recorded in the judgment. The procedural history indicates that this is a writ petition filed before the Patna High Court.

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 judgment does not record any specific arguments made by the petitioner beyond challenging the constitutional validity. The revenue's contention, as indicated by the court's decision, is that Section 16(4) of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, is constitutionally valid. The court relied on a previous judgment of a co-ordinate bench dated 08.09.2023 passed in CWJC No.9108 of 2021 and other analogous cases.