Lease Plan INDIA Private Limited vs. Government Of National Capital Territory Of Delhi & Ors.
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The petitioner, Lease Plan India Private Limited, filed its TRAN-I Form before the cut-off date but inadvertently claimed Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs. 2,23,18,390/- instead of Rs. 3,99,49,705/-. Upon realizing this bona fide mistake, the petitioner emailed the GST Help Desk on January 4, 2018, requesting an opportunity to amend the TRAN-I Form. Despite reminders, the grievance remained unaddressed, leading to the present writ petition. The petitioner relies on a previous High Court decision in M/s Blue Bird Pure Pvt. Ltd. versus Union of India & Ors., which dealt with a similar situation where a petitioner could not correctly fill the TRAN-I Form due to inadvertent error and was denied the opportunity to rectify it.
Held
The Court held that the petitioner is entitled to an opportunity to rectify the TRAN-I Form. The Court found that the petitioner had filed the TRAN-I Form before the cut-off date, and the error in claiming ITC was inadvertent. Relying on its previous decision in M/s Blue Bird Pure Pvt. Ltd. (supra), the Court directed the respondents to either open the online portal to enable the petitioner to file the rectified TRAN-I Form electronically or to accept the manually filed TRAN-I Form with the correction on or before September 20, 2019. The Court reasoned that ITC is a property of the assessee and cannot be deprived of it save by authority of law, as per Article 300(A) of the Constitution of India. The ratio decidendi is that bona fide errors in TRAN-I filings, when made before the cut-off date, should be allowed to be rectified to prevent deprivation of legitimate ITC. The petitioner's revised claim will be processed in accordance with law after the corrected TRAN-I Form is filed. No issue was expressly left undecided.
Key Issues
1. Whether the petitioner is entitled to an opportunity to rectify the inadvertently incorrect TRAN-I Form filed by them, considering they filed it before the cut-off date? (Question of law and fact, turning on the interpretation of provisions related to filing and rectification of TRAN-I forms). Petitioner's Contention: The petitioner argues that due to a bona fide and inadvertent error in claiming ITC in the TRAN-I Form, they should be granted an opportunity to correct it. They rely on the High Court's decision in M/s Blue Bird Pure Pvt. Ltd. versus Union of India & Ors., which allowed similar relief. They also invoke Article 300(A) of the Constitution of India, stating that ITC is a property and cannot be taken away without authority of law. Revenue's Contention: The respondents, through their counsel, fairly do not dispute that the present case is covered by the decision in M/s Blue Bird Pure Pvt. Ltd. (supra). No other arguments were recorded for the revenue.
Sections Cited
Article 300(A)
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Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
O R D E R % 13.09.2019
C.M. No. 41096/2019
Issue notice. Mr. Singh accepts notice.
This application has been moved by the petitioner for issuance of directions in view of the order dated 22.07.2019 passed in W.P. (C.) No. 3798/2019, M/s Blue Bird Pure Pvt. Ltd. versus Union of India & Ors.
The submission of learned counsel for the petitioner is that the said decision covers the case of the petitioner as well. In short, the case of the petitioner is that though the petitioner had filed its TRAN-I Form before the cut-off date i.e. 22.12.2017, due to inadvertent error, the petitioner had claimed ITC of Rs. 2,23,18,390/- instead of Rs. 3,99,49,705/-. Soon upon realising the said bona fide mistake, the petitioner sent an e-mail on 04.01.2018 to the GST Help Desk and requested for grant of opportunity to amend the GST TRAN-I Form. The petitioner, thereafter, sent reminder but to no avail. Since the petitioner’s grievance remained unaddressed, the petitioner has preferred the present writ petition.
In M/s Blue Bird Pure Pvt. Ltd. (supra), this Court dealt with the similar grievance of the petitioner herein. The petitioner in that case had also filed the TRAN-I Form within the prescribed period. However, on account of an inadvertent error, the columns had not been correctly filled up and consequently, the ITC was not granted to the petitioner. The petitioner’s request for opening the portal to enable him to again file TRAN- 1 electronically or to manually file revised TRAN-I Form was also not entertained. This Court after referring to the decision in Bhargava Motors v. Union of India, dated 13.05.2019 in WP(C) 1280/2018 and Kusum Enterprises Pvt. Ltd v. Union of India, 2019-TIOL-1509-HC-DEL-GST allowed the said petition. The effective directions issued by the Court reads as follows:
“15. Accordingly, this Court directs the Respondents to either open the online portal so as to enable the Petitioner to again file the rectified TRAN-I Form electronically or accept the manually filed TRAN-I Form with the correction on or before 31st July, 2019. 16. The Petitioner will correspondingly be permitted to thereafter file the return in TRAN-2. The penalty and interest
for the late filing of GSTR-3Bwill be waived off in view of the above directions, subject, of course, to the Petitioner being permitted to and in fact filing the rectified TRAN-1 Form as directed.”
Learned counsel for the respondents fairly does not dispute the position that the present case is covered by the decision in M/s Blue Bird Pure Pvt. Ltd. (supra). We may additionally add that the credit standing in favour of an assessee is property and the assessee could not be deprived of the said property save by authority of law in terms of Article 300 (A) of the Constitution of India. There is no law brought to our notice which extinguishes the said right to property of the assessee in the credit standing in their favour.
Thus, we direct the respondent to either open the online portal so as to enable the petitioner to file the rectified TRAN-I Form electronically, or to accept the same manually with correction, on or before 20.09.2019. The petitioner’s revised claim be processed in accordance with law once the corrected TRAN–I Form is filed.
The petition stands disposed of in the aforesaid terms.
Dasti.
VIPIN SANGHI, J
SANJEEV NARULA, J SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 N.Khanna
Reproduced from the public record of the Delhi High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.