Sampa Das vs. Union Of INDIA And Anr
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The appellant, Sampa Das, challenged an order passed by a learned Single Judge of the High Court dated July 28, 2025. This order upheld a final order passed under Section 74(9) of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017/Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, along with notices in DRC-01 dated August 3, 2024. These actions pertained to the tax periods from July 2017 to March 2020. The appellant argued that the clubbing of multiple tax periods raised an issue of limitation, which is a question of law and should be entertained in a writ petition. The respondent authorities contended that the non-payment of GST, as revealed by an investigation by the Anti-Evasion Branch, justified invoking the extended period of limitation, and thus the show cause notice and subsequent order were within the prescribed time.
Held
The Court held that the final order passed under Section 74(9) of the said Act is an appealable order as prescribed under Section 107 of the said Act. Section 107 provides a statutory right of appeal against orders passed under Section 74. Therefore, the final order under Section 74(9), being an adjudicatory decision, is appealable before the designated appellate authority. The Court found that the appeal before it was devoid of merit because the appellant had an alternative statutory remedy. The Court dismissed the appeal but granted the appellant liberty to prefer an appeal before the appellate authority within a period of eight weeks from the date of the order. The appellate authority was directed to consider all the relevant issues raised by the appellant in that appeal.
Key Issues
1. Whether the clubbing of multiple tax periods, pertaining to the issue of limitation, is a question of law that can be entertained in a writ petition? (Section 74 of the CGST/WBGST Act, 2017) The appellant argued that the clubbing of several tax periods (July 2017 to March 2020) raised a significant issue of limitation, which is a pure question of law. They contended that this legal question should have been considered by the learned Single Judge in the writ petition. The appellant relied on the principle that questions of law are amenable to writ jurisdiction even if an alternative remedy exists. The respondent authorities argued that the findings from the investigation by the Anti-Evasion Branch regarding non-payment of GST formed the basis for invoking the extended period of limitation under Section 74. They contended that the show cause notice dated August 3, 2024, and the subsequent order under Section 74(9) dated January 24, 2025, were issued within the permissible period of limitation, thereby negating the appellant's claim.
Sections Cited
Section 74, Section 107
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
12 ss 17.11.2025
MAT 1480 of 2025 With CAN 1 of 2025 With CAN 2 of 2025
Sampa Das Vs. Union of India & Anr.
Mr. Promit Majumdar Mr. Ankit Prakash … … for the appellant
Mr. Vipul Kundalia, Sr. Adv. … … for the respondents
Learned counsel appearing for the appellant challenges an order passed by the Hon’ble Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury dated 28th July, 2025. Learned counsel challenges the final order passed under Section 74(9) of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017/Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as “the said Act”) along with the notices in DRC-01 dated 3rd August, 2024 in respect of the tax period from July, 2017 to March, 2020. Learned counsel appearing for the appellant further submits that the learned Single Judge has failed to consider that the clubbing of multiple tax periods pertains to the issue of limitation, which is a question of law and therefore can be entertained in a writ petition. Learned counsel appearing for the respondent authorities submits that the issue in respect of non-
2 payment of GST and the consequential investigation carried out by the Anti Evasion Branch and the findings revealed therein forms the basis for invoking the extended period of limitation and thus the show cause notice issued on 3rd August, 2024 and the subsequent order passed under Section 74(9) of the said Act dated 24th January, 2025 were passed within the period of limitation. Heard learned counsels for the parties and perused the memorandum of appeal and the stay petition. From the record, it can be seen that the notice dated 3rd August, 2024, which was issued on the basis of allegation of non-payment of GST and the consequential investigation carried out by the Anti Evasion Branch and the revelation thereof, forms the basis for issuance of the notice issued under Section 74(9) of the said Act. The final order passed under Section 74(9) of the said Act is also an appealable order as prescribed under Section 107 of the said Act. Section 107 of the said Act provides the statutory right of appeal against orders passed under Section 74. The final order under Section 74(9) being an adjudicatory decision is, thus, appealable before the designated appellate authority. Under such circumstances, this appeal is devoid of any merit and is dismissed accordingly.
3 However, liberty is granted to the appellant to prefer an appeal within a period of eight weeks from the date under the Act, where all the issues relevant therein will be considered by the appellate authority.
Urgent photostat certified copy of the order, if applied for, be given to the parties, upon usual undertakings.
(Uday Kumar, J.) (Rajarshi Bharadwaj, J.)
Reproduced from the public record of the Calcutta High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.