M/S Pradip Chimanlal Mevada vs. Union Of INDIA
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The petitioner, M/s Pradip Chimanlal Mevada, filed a writ application seeking directions to the respondents to allow them to file Form GST ITC-01 to claim input tax credit (ITC) under Section 18 of the CGST and GGST Acts, 2017. The petitioner had apparently faced technical glitches or made a bonafide error by their accountant, preventing them from filing the form. The petitioner had previously corresponded with the office of the Commissioner, Central GST, Gandhinagar, on October 18, 2019, which directed them to approach the State GST nodal officer as their GSTIN fell under State GST jurisdiction. The petitioner then made a written request to the Joint Commissioner of State Tax on January 13, 2020.
Held
The High Court disposed of the writ application with a specific direction to the Joint Commissioner of State Tax, Mahesana Division, Mahesana. The Court directed the Joint Commissioner to immediately examine the petitioner's request to upload Form ITC-01, as submitted on January 13, 2020, and also consider the communication dated October 18, 2019, from the office of the Commissioner, Central GST, Gandhinagar. The Joint Commissioner was further directed to take an appropriate decision on the matter and communicate it to the writ applicant within two weeks of receiving the order. The Court did not explicitly decide on the petitioner's entitlement to ITC but directed a review of their request.
Key Issues
1. Whether the petitioner is entitled to file Form GST ITC-01 to claim input tax credit under Section 18 of the CGST and GGST Acts, 2017, despite potential procedural delays or errors. Petitioner's arguments: The petitioner contended that they are entitled to claim ITC as per Section 18 of the CGST and GGST Acts. They argued that a bonafide error by their accountant should not deprive them of their vested right to claim ITC. They sought directions to open the online portal or allow manual filing of the form. Revenue's arguments: The judgment does not record any specific arguments made by the revenue or state respondents. However, the communication from the Central GST office indicates a procedural direction to approach the State GST authorities.
Sections Cited
Section 18
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
ORAL ORDER (PER : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE J.B.PARDIWALA) 1 By this writ application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the writ applicant has prayed for the following reliefs: “(a) To issue writ or in the nature of a mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order, or direction the respondent to allow the petitioner to file the form GST ITC01 in order to claim the input tax credit of the petitioner to which it is entitled as per the provisions of Section 18 of the CGST and GGST Acts, 2017; (b) To issue necessary writ(s), direction(s), and/or pass necessary order(s) directing the respondents to allow / consider the bonafide intentions of the petitioner and grant the claim of the input tax credit either by directing the respondents to open online portal or by directly them to allow the same manually; (c) to issue necessary writ(s), direction (s) and/or pass necessary order(s) directing the respondent Revenue to not to deprive the petitioner's vested right due to bonafide error of the accountant of petitioner and instead apply the law based on the provisions of the CGST Act; C/SCA/2560/2020 ORDER (d) Pending admission, hearing and till final disposal of this petition, Your Lordships may be pleased to direct the respondents from resorting to any coercive measure against the petitioner. (e) To issue order(s), direction(s), writ(s) or any other relief(s) as this Hon'ble Court deems fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case and in the interest of justice. (f) To award costs of and incidental to this application be paid by the respondents.” 2 We take notice of the communication dated 18th October 2019 addressed by the office of the Commissioner, Central GST Gandhinagar to the writ applicant. The same reads thus: “F.No.IV/Sys10/Misc/201819/878 Date : 18.10.2019 To M/s. Pradip C. Mevada, Unjha.
Gentlemen, Sub : Request to give permission to upload Form ITC01m/reg.
Please refer to your letter dated 26.09.2019 on the above subject.
In this regard it is to inform that as per para 5.1 of circular 39/13/2018 GST dated 03.04.2018, the State Government i.s. SGST Dept. is also required to appoint nodal officer to address the problem a tax payer faces due to technical glitches, if any, in the common portal.
As your GSTIN falls under the juri iction of State GST, it is requested to submit your application to the nodal officer of SGST. If any difficulty is faced in forwarding the application to GSTN from SGST office, the same may be communicated to this office for necessary action.
Yours faithfully, (Abhishek Kumar)
Assistant Commissioner (System) CGST & Central Excise Gandhinagar Commissionerate” C/SCA/2560/2020 ORDER 3 We also take notice of the request made by the writ applicant in writing to the Joint Commissioner of State Tax dated 13th January 2020. The request in writing is at page : 111 (Annexure : 'N' to this petition). 4 Having heard the learned counsel appearing for the writ applicant and having gone through the materials on record, we dispose of this writ application with a direction to the Joint Commissioner of State Tax, Mahesana Division, Mahesana to immediately look into the request made by the writ applicant to upload ITC01 vide representation dated 13th January 2020 at Annexure : 'N' to this petition and also look into the communication dated 18th October 2019 referred to above of the office of the Commissioner, Central GST Gandhinagar. The Joint Commissioner of State Tax is, accordingly, directed to take an appropriate decision in this regard and communicate the same to the writ applicant within two weeks from the date of receipt of the writ of this order. 5 With the above, this writ application is disposed of. Direct service is permitted. (J. B. PARDIWALA, J) (BHARGAV D. KARIA, J) CHANDRESH
Reproduced from the public record of the Gujarat High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.