M/S Jay Bee Industries vs. Mohammad Shadaab And Another
Held
The Court held that there was no merit in the contempt petition. The Court noted that the original writ petition (CWP No. 2169 of 2018) had been disposed of on November 16, 2019. In that disposal order, it was specifically held that the petitioner's inability to file the TRAN-1 Form was due to technical glitches in the GST network, which prevented the claim of input tax credit. The Court observed that these technical glitches had admittedly continued even after the order of September 19, 2018. Therefore, the Court concluded that it could not be said that the respondents had either deliberately or willfully violated the orders of the Court. Consequently, the contempt petition was dismissed, and the notices issued to the respondents were discharged.
Facts
The petitioner, M/s Jay Bee Industries, filed a contempt petition (COPC No. 139 of 2019) against the respondents for allegedly violating an order dated September 19, 2018, passed in CWP No. 2169 of 2018. The original writ petition concerned the petitioner's inability to upload its TRAN-1 return due to technical glitches, which prevented it from claiming Input Tax Credit (ITC). The High Court, in its order dated September 19, 2018, had directed the respondents to provisionally allow the petitioner to upload the TRAN-1 return by opening a window, subject to the outcome of the petition. The contempt petition alleged that this order was violated.
Key Issues
1. Whether the respondents have deliberately or willfully violated the order dated September 19, 2018, passed by this Court in CWP No. 2169 of 2018, thereby constituting contempt of court? Petitioner's Argument: The petitioner contended that the respondents failed to comply with the court's order to provisionally allow the uploading of the TRAN-1 return, leading to the denial of ITC. This non-compliance, they argued, amounted to a willful violation of the court's directive. Respondents' Argument: The respondents argued that the original writ petition (CWP No. 2169 of 2018) was disposed of on November 16, 2019, with a finding that the TRAN-1 form could not be filed due to technical glitches in the GST network. They asserted that since these technical glitches persisted, it could not be said that they deliberately or willfully violated the court's order. The respondents relied on the subsequent disposal order of the writ petition.
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA COPC No.139 of 2019. Date of decision: 16.11.2019. M/s Jay Bee Industries …..Petitioner. Versus Mohammad Shadaab and another ….. Respondents. Coram The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Judge. Whether approved for reporting?1 No For the Petitioner : Mr. Surinder Saklani and Mr. Ajay Jain, Advocates. For the Respondents: Mr. Rajiv Jiwan, Senior Advocate with Mr. Ajit Sharma and Ms.
Ragini
Dogra, Advocates, for respondent No.
Mr. Ajay Vaidya, Senior Additional Advocate General with Mr. Vinod Thakur, Additional Advocate General, Mr. Bhupinder Thakur, Deputy Advocate General and Mr. Ram Lal Thakur, Assistant Advocate General, for respondent No.2. 1Whether the reporters of the local papers may be allowed to see the Judgment?Yes 2019:HHC:8960
2 Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Judge
( Oral
) The petitioner has filed the present contempt proceedings against the respondents on the ground that they have violated the order dated 19.09.2018 passed in CWP No. 2169 of 2018 which reads as under: “Learned counsel for the petitioner undertakes to remove the objections, if any, positively within a period of th
The judgment continues below.
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Reproduced from the public record of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.