Frontier Agencies (P) Limited vs. Union Of INDIA And Others
Held
The Court held that the present case was covered by the judgment of this Court in CWP-30949-2018 (Adfert Technologies Pvt. Ltd. vs. Union of India and others) decided on 04.11.2019, and an interim order from the Delhi High Court. The respondents conceded that the matter was covered by these precedents. Consequently, the Court allowed the writ petition in the same terms as the Adfert Technologies case. The operative directions were modified to reflect the extended deadline for filing manual returns. The Court directed the respondents to permit the petitioner to file or revise Form TRAN-1, either electronically or manually, on or before 31.12.2019. Additionally, the petitioner was permitted, as an alternative, to claim or enter the unutilized credit in their GST-3B forms for January 2020, either electronically or manually. The ratio decidendi is that genuine technical difficulties preventing timely filing of transitional credit forms should be addressed by allowing manual filing or revision, especially when supported by High Court judgments and departmental extensions.
Facts
The petitioner, Frontier Agencies (P) Ltd., engaged in trading chemicals and pesticides, sought to upload details of deemed credit under Rule 117(4) of the CGST Act, 2017, on 25.12.2017. The petitioner claims they were unable to do so due to technical glitches on the GST portal. They believed the last date for filing was 31.12.2017, based on a press release. Upon attempting to file on 31.12.2018, they found the portal for Form GST TRAN-I closed. The petitioner approached tax authorities on 06.03.2018 but received no reply, nor was the portal reopened. They argued that this prevented them from carrying forward input tax credit accrued under previous laws, potentially causing a significant financial burden.
Key Issues
1. Whether the petitioner, due to technical glitches on the GST portal, should be permitted to file or revise Form GST TRAN-I, either electronically or manually, to carry forward unutilized input tax credit accrued under previous tax laws, in light of the provisions of Rule 117 of the CGST Rules, 2017? Petitioner's arguments: The petitioner contended that technical glitches on the GST portal on 25.12.2017 prevented them from uploading the details of deemed credit by the stipulated deadline of 31.12.2017. They relied on a press release indicating this deadline and argued that they were unable to carry forward their input tax credit, leading to potential financial hardship. They cited the Punjab and Haryana High Court's decision in CWP-30949-2018 (Adfert Technologies Pvt. Ltd. vs. Union of India) and an interim order from the Delhi High Court in Indusind Media Communications Ltd. & Anr. vs. Union of India & Ors. as precedents for allowing manual filing or revision. Respondents' arguments: The respondents conceded that the matter was covered by the judgment in Adfert Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and noted that the deadline for filing manual returns had been extended to 31.12.2019.
Sections Cited
Rule 117, Rule 117(4)
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
CWP-33020-2019 (O&M) 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CWP-33020-2019 (O&M)
Date of decision: 26.11.2019 Frontier Agencies (P) Ltd. .....Petitioner versus Union of India and others ....Respondents CORAM:Hon'ble Mr. Justice Jaswant Singh Hon'ble Mr. Justice Girish Agnihotri Present: Mr. Chetan Jain, Advocate for the petitioner.
Mr. Sunish Bindlish, Advocate for the respondents. **** GIRISH AGNIHOTRI, J.
The petitioner namely Frontier Agencies (P) Ltd., is a private limited company, having its business premises at Zirakpur, Derabassi and SAS Nagar (Pb.).
The petitioner is engaged in trading of chemicals and pesticides.
The pleaded case of the petitioner inter alia is that the petitioner is registered at Mohali (Pb.) under GST Act, 2017. The petitioner in accordance with the provisions of Central GST Act, 2017, tried to upload the details of deemed credit in terms of Rule 117(4) on account of the stock of goods not supported by invoices or documents evidencing payment of duty in respect of inputs, on 25.12.2017. It is the case of the petitioner that due to technical glitches in the system of GST portal, the details could not be uploaded and when the petition
The judgment continues below.
Read the full judgment
A free account opens 10 full GST judgments a month (one account works on both bharattax.net and this site). Re-reading one you have already opened does not count again.
The summary, the parties, the sections and the citations above are open to everyone and always will be. Only the text of the order and the PDF are metered.
Reproduced from the public record of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.