M/S Deepak Print vs. Union Of INDIA

Held

The Court held that the writ applicant is entitled to rectify its Form GSTR-3B for the month of May 2019. The Court relied on the Delhi High Court's decision in Bharti Airtel Limited vs. Union of India & Ors., which permitted rectification of GSTR-3B for the period in which the error occurred. The Court found that the respondents had not been able to expressly indicate the rationale for not allowing rectification in the same month the error occurred. The Court also noted that the respondents had acknowledged that errors could occur in Form GSTR-2A and had permitted rectification in other instances, reinforcing the petitioner's stand. The Court read down para 4 of Circular No. 26/26/2017-GST dated 29.12.2017 to the extent it restricted rectification of Form GSTR-3B in respect of the period in which the error occurred. The Court directed the respondent No.4 to verify the rectified GSTR-3B within two weeks of its filing and give effect to it. Furthermore, the Court directed that the writ applicant shall not be saddled with the liability of late fees, considering it was dragged into unnecessary litigation due to technicalities raised by the respondents. The relief sought in Para-9(C) of the petition was also granted.

Facts

The petitioner, M/s. Deepak Print, a proprietary concern registered under the CGST/GGST Act, 2017, inadvertently uploaded incorrect entries for the month of May 2019 in its GSTR-3B return. Instead of its own data, it uploaded the data of a similarly named entity, M/s. Deepak Process. The petitioner realized the mistake after submission but before filing the return. It submitted a representation to the Nodal Officer, SGST Office, Rajkot, on June 25, 2019, requesting to undo the offset and re-enable the submit button or provide a fresh blank return. The petitioner stated that the wrongly uploaded turnover was Rs. 5,37,13,454/- and output tax was Rs. 26,85,672/-, with wrongly claimed ITC of Rs. 22,73,945/-, whereas the actual turnover was Rs. 4,98,407/- and output tax Rs. 24,920/-, with ITC Rs. 21,100/-. The Nodal Officer did not respond. The respondents did not file a formal reply to the writ application.

Key Issues

1. Whether the writ applicant is entitled to seek rectification of Form GSTR-3B for the month of May 2019, specifically to correct inadvertently uploaded data before the final filing. Petitioner's Arguments: The petitioner argued that it made a genuine mistake in uploading incorrect data for M/s. Deepak Process instead of M/s. Deepak Print in its GSTR-3B for May 2019. It promptly represented to the authorities but received no response. The petitioner relied on the Delhi High Court's decision in Bharti Airtel Limited vs. Union of India & Ors., which permitted rectification of GSTR-3B for the period in which the error occurred, and sought similar relief. The petitioner also prayed for waiver of late fees. Revenue's Arguments: The judgment notes that the respondents did not file a formal reply opposing the writ application. Mr. Utkarsh Sharma appeared for the respondents. The judgment mentions that the respondents' additional affidavit skirted the question of not allowing rectification and provided unconvincing explanations. The respondents acknowledged that the facility of Form GSTR-2A was not available prior to 2018, and that errors could occur in Form GSTR-2A needing correction, which they had permitted in other instances.