Subhadra Flour Mill And General Industries vs. Union Of INDIA And Ors.

Held

The Court held that the writ petition challenging the summons dated March 3, 2021, had become infructuous as the date of compliance, March 24, 2021, had already passed. Consequently, the Court was not inclined to grant any relief in the present writ petition. However, the Court directed that if any future summons is issued to the petitioner, the respondent authority should consider the Supreme Court's decision in Vijay Sajnani & Anr. vs. Union of India & Anr. (2019) 18 SCC 819 to determine its applicability to the petitioner's case. The writ petition was disposed of on this basis.

Facts

The petitioner, Subhadra Flour Mill & General Industries, challenged a summons dated March 3, 2021, issued by the Senior Intelligence Officer, Central GST, under Section 70 of the Central GST Act, 2017. The summons required the petitioner's personal appearance on March 24, 2021. The petitioner sought relief from the High Court. The respondents included the Union of India and various GST authorities, including the Bolpur Commissionerate. The summons date for compliance has now expired.

Key Issues

1. Whether the writ petition challenging an expired summons is maintainable and warrants relief? (Question of law) Petitioner's contention: The petitioner sought to challenge the summons. While not explicitly argued, the implication is that the summons was issued improperly or for reasons that would warrant judicial intervention. The petitioner intended to rely on the Supreme Court decision in Vijay Sajnani & Anr. vs. Union of India & Anr. (2019) 18 SCC 819 regarding the applicability of this judgment to their case. Revenue/State's contention: No specific argument was recorded for the respondents regarding the maintainability of the petition or the validity of the summons. Their presence was noted as appearing before the court.