Angamuthu Amuthavel vs. The Commercial Tax Officer

Held

The Court allowed the writ petition. It acknowledged the existence of technical glitches in uploading returns/forms, as evidenced by the respondents' own admissions and the petitioner's experience of being told to wait for updates. The Court found that the petitioner had approached the respondents in time but was unable to succeed due to these technical issues. Therefore, the Court held that the petitioner's case was fully covered by the decision in Tara Exports. The Court reasoned that since the portal remained inaccessible due to technical glitches even beyond the last filing date, it was appropriate to grant the relief sought. Accordingly, the respondents were directed to either extend the date for submitting FORM GST TRAN-1 electronically or re-open and reinstate the facility for online or manual submission for the petitioner.

Facts

The petitioner, Angamuthu Amuthavel, filed a writ petition seeking a direction to extend the date for submitting FORM GST TRAN-1 electronically or to re-open and reinstate the facility for online or manual submission. The petitioner claimed continuous attempts to upload inputs for Input Tax Credit were unsuccessful due to system issues and technical glitches until April 2019. The respondents, represented by the Commercial Tax Officer, argued that the Government had extended the time for submission until March 31, 2019, and since the petitioner did not avail this opportunity, the petition should be dismissed. They also contended that the petitioner's situation was different from a previous case (Tara Exports) as the petitioner had not initiated filing before the last date.

Key Issues

1. Whether the petitioner is entitled to an extension for submitting FORM GST TRAN-1 or re-opening of the submission facility due to alleged technical glitches, considering the prior extension granted by the Government? Petitioner's arguments: The petitioner contended that despite continuous efforts, technical glitches prevented the timely submission of FORM GST TRAN-1, and these issues persisted until April 2019. They relied on the High Court's decision in WP.(MD)No.18532 of 2018 (Tara Exports vs. The Union of India and others), which directed the respondents to open the portal for filing the form by extending the last date. Respondents' arguments: The respondents argued that the Government had already extended the deadline for submission to March 31, 2019. As the petitioner failed to utilize this extended period, they are not entitled to further time. They distinguished the present case from Tara Exports, asserting that the petitioner in that case approached the court before the last date, whereas the present petitioner did not initiate filing before the deadline.