Singh Enterprises Through Its Proprietor Namely Munna Singh vs. Union Of INDIA Through The Commissioner Of CGST And C X

Facts

Singh Enterprises, a proprietorship concern, is challenging a show cause notice dated December 29, 2020, and an order-in-original dated February 28, 2022, issued by the GST authorities. The petitioner had previously availed the Sabka Vishwas Legal Dispute Resolution Scheme (SVLDRS), 2019, for the period April 2015 to June 2017, with a declared duty amount of Rs. 88,21,496. A statement in Form SVLDR-3 determined the payable amount to be Rs. 43,10,748. The deadline for payment was initially 30 days from the issuance of SVLDR-3, later extended to June 30, 2020, by Notification No. 1/2020-Central Excise. The petitioner admittedly failed to make this payment by the extended deadline, causing its SVLDRS declaration to lapse. Subsequently, the show cause notice was issued for the original service tax liability, interest, and penalty, followed by the order-in-original confirming this liability.

Held

The Court held that the Supreme Court's order in Suo Motu Writ Petition (C) No. 3 of 2020 extended the period of limitation for judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings, but it did not extend the time limit for making payments once a determination had been made under a scheme like SVLDRS, 2019. The Court reasoned that the determination of the amount payable by the Designated Committee, as communicated in Form SVLDR-3 on February 6, 2020, constituted the culmination of the quasi-judicial process. After this determination, the petitioner was merely required to discharge the determined liability within the stipulated period, which was extended to June 30, 2020. The petitioner's failure to make this payment by the deadline meant the declaration lapsed. The Court referred to the Supreme Court's decision in M/s. Yashi Construction Vs. Union of India & Ors., which held that a party availing a scheme must scrupulously abide by its terms and conditions, and extending time not provided for in the scheme would amount to modifying it. Therefore, the petitioner's contention that the Supreme Court's order extended the payment deadline was found to be misconceived and not tenable in law. The writ petition was dismissed.

Key Issues

1. Whether the period prescribed for making payment under the Sabka Vishwas Legal Dispute Resolution Scheme (SVLDRS), 2019, stands extended by the Supreme Court's orders in Suo Motu Writ Petition (C) No. 3 of 2020, which excluded the period from March 15, 2020, to February 28, 2022, for the purpose of limitation in judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings? Petitioner's contention: The petitioner argued that the Supreme Court's order effectively extended the time for payment under the SVLDRS, 2019, until May 28, 2022, as the declaration was accepted and the liability determined. Therefore, the show cause notice and order-in-original were issued in defiance of the scheme and the Supreme Court's directions. Revenue's contention: The revenue contended that the Supreme Court's order extended the period of limitation for judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings, but not the time for making payments after a quasi-judicial determination had concluded. The SVLDRS declaration process, including the determination of the amount payable, was complete on February 6, 2020, when SVLDR-3 was issued. The subsequent failure to pay was a lapse of the declaration, not a matter of limitation for a proceeding.