Sundaram Mahadeo Autoworld PVT. LTD. vs. The Union Of INDIA And 7 Ors.

Held

The Court held that if there is a provision for electronic filing of returns and uploading could not be done in time due to technical glitches, the concerned individual or firm should not be put at a disadvantage. The Court noted that the petitioner's case is not one of seeking time to file but rather an inability to file due to portal issues, leading them to seek manual submission, which was previously considered by the Court. The Court further acknowledged that the GST Council had been apprised of the situation. Accordingly, the Court directed the GST Council (Respondent No. 3) to examine the petitioner's grievance and allow them to file TRAN-1 (and by extension, TRAN-2, as implied by the context of the previous order and the petitioner's grievance) either electronically or manually. This exercise was to be completed within three weeks from the receipt of a certified copy of the order. The Court's reasoning emphasizes that technical difficulties should not prejudice taxpayers seeking to avail legitimate benefits like input tax credit.

Facts

The petitioner, Sundaram Mahadeo Autoworld Pvt. Ltd., is challenging the Commissioner, Central Goods and Service Tax, Assam's refusal to allow the submission of GST TRAN-2 return, either electronically or manually. This issue arose after the petitioner had previously approached the Gauhati High Court in WP(C) No. 4901/2018 due to the GST portal not accepting their TRAN-2 return from July 2017 onwards. In the earlier writ petition, the authorities had assured the Court that they would facilitate the submission of Form GST TRAN-2, either electronically or manually. However, the petitioner alleges that the authorities have now refused this, stating the petitioner has not proven genuine difficulty in uploading the form. The petitioner contends that proving technical glitches is inherently difficult and that the refusal deprives them of input tax credit.

Key Issues

1. Whether the authorities are obligated to allow the petitioner to submit Form GST TRAN-2, either electronically or manually, despite the petitioner's alleged inability to prove genuine difficulty in uploading the form due to technical glitches, as per the previous order of this Court? Petitioner's Arguments: The petitioner argues that it is impossible to definitively prove that all efforts were made or that there was no negligence in uploading the form when the issue stems from technical glitches in the GST portal. They contend that the refusal to accept the TRAN-2 form, electronically or manually, will result in the loss of eligible input tax credit. They rely on the previous court order which directed the authorities to facilitate the submission. Revenue's Arguments: The respondents, through the Assistant SGI, state that the Commissioner of GST, Guwahati examined the grievances and found that while the petitioner filed TRAN-1 successfully, they did not submit the information correctly and did not revise the return within the stipulated time. The matter was forwarded to higher authorities, including the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC)/GST Council. The CBIC issued a letter clarifying that re-opening the portal or allowing manual declarations due to technical glitches may not be in consonance with the current statutory framework of GST law.