Manpreet Engineering And Construction Company Through Its Partner Avtar Singh vs. The State Of Jharkhand Through The Commissioner Deptt Of State Tax

Held

The Court strongly disapproved of the petitioner's approach in impleading private respondents and seeking directions for payment of dues within writ petitions challenging GST registration cancellation. The Court noted that the petitioner's counsel, on instructions, sought permission to withdraw the writ petitions. Consequently, the Court refrained from imposing exemplary costs and dismissed all the writ petitions as withdrawn. The Court did not decide on the merits of the GST registration cancellation or the alleged outstanding dues.

Facts

The petitioner, Manpreet Engineering and Construction Company, filed multiple writ petitions challenging the cancellation of its GST registration. The cancellation, dated October 31, 2018, was based on the ground of non-filing of GST returns for over six months. Notably, the petitioner also impleaded private respondents, Tata Steel Limited and Thermax Limited, seeking a direction for them to pay outstanding dues for different tax periods. The private respondents objected to this prayer, suggesting the petitioner's actions might constitute offenses under the GST Act. The respondent State also objected to the petitioner's prayer.

Key Issues

1. Whether the Court should entertain a prayer for directing private respondents to pay outstanding dues to the petitioner, in a writ petition primarily challenging the cancellation of GST registration. Petitioner's Argument: The petitioner sought to implead private respondents and prayed for a direction to them to pay admitted outstanding dues for various tax periods. Revenue/State's Argument: The respondent State, represented by Mr. P.A.S. Pati and Mr. Sachin Kumar, strongly objected to the petitioner's prayer. The private respondents, through Mr. M.S. Mittal, also strongly objected, submitting that certain acts of the petitioner could amount to offenses under the GST Act.