Silver Traders vs. Union Of INDIA And 5 Others

Held

The Court allowed the writ petition, following the reasoning and directions laid down in its previous judgment dated September 15, 2021, in Writ Tax No. 477 of 2021. The Court directed that all petitioners, including Silver Traders, must first file physical Form GST TRAN-1/TRAN-2 before their respective jurisdictional authorities within four weeks from the date of the earlier judgment. The jurisdictional authority is then required to report on compliance with Section 140 of the CGST Act and Rule 117 of the CGST Rules. If no objections arise, the authority should facilitate the electronic submission or revision of the form within two weeks. In case of objections, a limited opportunity will be given to the petitioner to correct the physical form within three weeks. Subsequently, the jurisdictional authority will forward their report and the physical form to the GST Network within one week. The GST Network will then either upload the form itself or allow the petitioner to upload it within two weeks. No form submitted in compliance with this order would be rejected for being filed outside the time limit. The petitioner in the present case is required to complete their compliance within one week from the date of this order.

Facts

The petitioner, Silver Traders, filed a writ petition seeking a direction to upload Form GST TRAN-1 within an extended timeline. The present petition concerns the same issue as Writ Tax No. 477 of 2021, which was previously allowed by the Court on September 15, 2021. The earlier judgment provided a detailed procedure for petitioners to file physical Form GST TRAN-1/TRAN-2, have their compliance verified by the jurisdictional authority, and subsequently upload or revise the forms electronically. The petitioner in the current case is directed to comply with the requirements within one week from the date of the order.

Key Issues

1. Whether the petitioner is entitled to an extended timeline for uploading Form GST TRAN-1, considering the procedural difficulties faced in filing the same electronically. Petitioner's Argument: The petitioner seeks a direction to upload Form GST TRAN-1 within an extended timeline, implying that they were unable to do so within the prescribed period. They rely on the precedent set in Writ Tax No. 477 of 2021, where a similar request was allowed. Respondent's Argument: The judgment does not record any specific arguments made by the respondent (Union of India and others).