M/S Ajmer Diesels And Tractors vs. The Union Of INDIA

Held

The High Court held that the grievance raised by the petitioner in the writ petition has been ventilated and resolved in light of the Supreme Court of India's judgment dated August 29, 2018. The Supreme Court had directed the GSTN to open the common portal for filing concerned forms for availing Transitional Credit through TRAN-1 and TRAN-2 for two months, from September 1, 2022, to October 31, 2022. This period was further extended till November 30, 2022, by virtue of Circular No.180/12/2022-GST dated September 9, 2022. The Supreme Court's directions also mandated that concerned officers verify the veracity of the claims and pass appropriate orders on merits after granting a reasonable opportunity to the parties. The ratio decidendi is that when a higher court provides a mechanism to address a specific grievance, the High Court should dispose of the writ petition in line with those directions, as the opportunity to ventilate the grievance has been provided. The operative direction was to dispose of the writ petition.

Facts

The petitioner, M/s Ajmer Diesels And Tractors, filed a writ petition before the Rajasthan High Court challenging an action or order related to GST. The specific tax period and the authority that passed the order are not detailed in the judgment. The amount in dispute is also not specified. The procedural history indicates that the issues involved in this writ petition have been resolved by a judgment of the Supreme Court of India dated August 29, 2018, in Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s).32709-32710/2018. The Supreme Court directed the Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN) to open the common portal for filing or revising TRAN-1 and TRAN-2 forms for a period of two months.

Key Issues

1. Whether the petitioner is entitled to an opportunity to file or revise their TRAN-1 and TRAN-2 forms for availing transitional credit, considering the Supreme Court's directions. The petitioner, through their counsel, implicitly sought relief by filing the writ petition, presumably to avail transitional credit. The Supreme Court's judgment dated August 29, 2018, addressed the broader issue of providing an opportunity to registered assessees to file or revise TRAN-1 and TRAN-2 forms. The respondents, represented by their counsel, did not present specific arguments against the petitioner's entitlement to this opportunity, as the Supreme Court's directions were to be implemented by the GSTN and concerned officers.