Sanyog Construction Private Limited vs. The State Of Bihar

Held

The Court accepted the statement made by the petitioner's counsel that the petitioner would deposit the admitted amount towards tax, interest, fine, fee, and penalty, and also a sum equal to 10% of the remaining amount of tax in dispute. In return, the concerned authority would allow the petitioner to upload the statutory appeal on the GST Web Portal as required under Section 107 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017/Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The Court directed that this be done within four weeks. Furthermore, if the petitioner complied with this undertaking, the appellate authority was directed to hear the appeal through virtual mode due to the Covid-19 pandemic and decide it expeditiously, preferably within three months of its filing. The petition was disposed of in these terms.

Facts

The petitioner, Sanyog Construction Private Limited, challenged an assessment order dated May 30, 2019/August 30, 2019, passed under Section 62 of the GST Act, 2017, for the month of April 2019. This order resulted in a demand of Rs. 7,18,413.34, communicated via DRC-07 dated September 2, 2019. The petitioner sought permission to file a statutory appeal under Section 107 of the GST Act on the web portal without first depositing 10% of the disputed tax amount (Rs. 71,842/-). They also sought a direction to prevent recovery of the disputed amount until the appeal was filed and alternatively, for the Commissioner of State Taxes to decide their pending application dated March 5, 2020, on merit without coercive steps.

Key Issues

1. Whether the petitioner should be permitted to file a statutory appeal under Section 107 of the GST Act, 2017, without pre-depositing 10% of the disputed tax amount, as required by the GST web portal for uploading appeals? Petitioner's contention: The petitioner argued that they should be allowed to file the appeal without the mandatory 10% pre-deposit, as the web portal was not allowing the upload. They also sought to prevent recovery of the disputed amount pending appeal. Revenue's contention: The State contended that if the petitioner deposits the admitted tax, interest, fine, fee, and penalty, along with 10% of the remaining disputed tax amount, they would be permitted to upload the statutory appeal on the GST web portal as required under Section 107 of the GST Act, 2017.