Sakti Pada Ghosh vs. State Of West Bengal And Ors.

Facts

The petitioner, Sakti Pada Ghosh, filed a writ petition (W.P.A. 12853 of 2025) before the High Court at Calcutta, Appellate Side, challenging an order or action by the State of West Bengal and its authorities. The petitioner subsequently informed the Court that they no longer wished to proceed with the writ petition. The petitioner's counsel submitted that as the Appellate Tribunal has been constituted and is functional, the writ petition should be transferred to the Appellate Tribunal. The petitioner sought eight weeks' time to prefer an appeal before the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) Kolkata, requesting exclusion of the period during which the writ petition was pending for the purpose of computing the limitation period.

Held

The Court noted the petitioner's submission that they did not intend to proceed with the writ petition any further. Consequently, the Court dismissed the writ petition along with any accompanying application as 'withdrawn'. The Court also observed that the petitioner sought to transfer the writ petition to the Appellate Tribunal and requested eight weeks to prefer an appeal before the GSTAT Kolkata under Section 112 of the CGST Act, 2017/WBGST Act, 2017, with a request to exclude the period of pendency for limitation. The Court disposed of the writ petition with these observations, implying that the petitioner's request for transfer and time to appeal before the GSTAT, along with the exclusion of the pendency period for limitation, was noted and would govern the subsequent proceedings before the Tribunal. The Court did not explicitly rule on the merits of the original challenge, as the petition was withdrawn.

Key Issues

1. Whether the writ petition should be dismissed as withdrawn in light of the petitioner's submission that they do not intend to proceed further. 2. Whether the writ petition should be transferred to the Appellate Tribunal, and if so, whether the petitioner should be granted eight weeks' time to prefer an appeal before the GSTAT Kolkata under Section 112 of the CGST Act, 2017/WBGST Act, 2017. 3. Whether the period during which the writ petition was pending should be excluded for computing the limitation period for filing an appeal before the GSTAT. Petitioner's Arguments: The petitioner argued that since the Appellate Tribunal is functional, the matter should be heard by the Tribunal. They requested time to file an appeal and sought exclusion of the pendency period of the writ petition for limitation purposes. Revenue/State's Arguments: The judgment records no specific arguments from the State.