M/S The Ramaraju Surgical Cotton Mills LTD. vs. The Additional Commissioner Of CGST And Central Excise

Held

The Court held that the petitioner is entitled to the relief sought. The Court noted that the new registration certificate was issued on June 21, 2022, and the petitioner attempted to file Form GST ITC-02 on July 20, 2022. This meant the 30-day limitation period would expire only on the following day. The Court found that the petitioner could not file the form within the stipulated time because the GST portal did not allow them to upload it. Therefore, the Court directed the petitioner to submit a fresh petition before the IT Grievance Redressal Committee. This Committee is to consider the petitioner's claim and pass orders in light of the Rajasthan High Court's decision in Pacific Industries Limited Vs Union of India (2022) 61 GSTL 592 within six weeks of receiving a copy of the order. The writ petition was disposed of with this direction.

Facts

M/s. The Ramaraju Surgical Cotton Mills Limited (the petitioner) is a registered assessee under GST. The petitioner had eleven additional places of business. In August 2021, it added an eleventh additional place of business. The petitioner purchased capital goods for this new location and availed Input Tax Credit (ITC) until June 2022. The petitioner decided to obtain separate registration for this eleventh location, which was issued on June 21, 2022. Simultaneously, this location was removed from the petitioner's existing registration. On July 20, 2022, the petitioner attempted to file Form GST ITC-02 to transfer ITC of Rs. 72,44,300/- to the new registration. However, the GST portal disabled the filing option with a message stating that the declaration for transfer of ITC pursuant to registration under Section 25(2) can be filed within 30 days of grant of registration to the transferee. The petitioner contended that the 30-day period had not expired and filed this writ petition when the portal did not permit filing.

Key Issues

1. Whether the petitioner is entitled to transfer its Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs. 72,44,300/- to its newly registered place of business, as permitted by Rule 41A of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, when the GST portal disabled the filing option for Form GST ITC-02. Petitioner's arguments: The petitioner argued that it attempted to file Form GST ITC-02 within the prescribed 30-day period from the grant of new registration. The portal's inability to accept the filing prevented them from complying with the rule. They relied on the Rajasthan High Court's judgment in Pacific Industries Limited Vs Union of India (2022) 61 GSTL 592, which dealt with a similar issue. Respondent's arguments: The respondent, represented by the Additional Commissioner of CGST and Central Excise, submitted that the petitioner attempted to file on the last day of the 30-day period, and the portal disabled the option because of this timing.